Mass Effect demi humans
by EclipsePheniox
Summary: Long ago on earth demi-humans appeared on earth. Now expanding into the galaxy the other races have to deal with both humans and demi-humans. Mass effect story from beginning to end but with monster people to make it more interesting. Experimental, possible harem
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, ok so because this has, well gotten interest I've expanded on the first chapter. But I also want to point out what I'm doing with the monster people. While this is a monster people story, there will be no magical based monsters, undead and similar monsters. I like to keep my stories realistic, so I'm focusing on that. So, in other words, no golems, vampires, undead and those ones. **

Space is a vast empty wilderness where many wonders and horrors await. A fleet of ships flew towards a planet of green and blue with turrians on board ready for an attack. This the reaction fleet for the destruction of another fleet that was destroyed by a group of aliens who were trying to activate a dormant mass relay. That was something that they could not tolerate, so they destroyed the ships but one escaped.

Whoever they contacted a fleet that came after that patrol and destroyed them. Thankfully managed to trace where the fleet came from to a blue and green world. They managed to take out the fleet, all that was left was to do now was invade. But none of them expected what was coming.

"Team 1 ready for deployment," the lead turrian said as he and his team walked onto the transport.

"So policing action?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," the leader muttered, he didn't like this situation either.

As soon as they were told what was going on the force that was being sent to the planet was split with what to do. Some agreed, others didn't but at best this was a messy situation. But what's done is done, now it was time to deal with it. Cocking their weapons, the ship took off with others flying down to the planet. As they entered the atmosphere anti-air weapons trying to blast the invasion down.

"Damn, whoever these guys are they have quite a lot of fire power," the pilot said as he moved the ships around. "What on…" he then began as he hit the communications. "Watch out, contact!"

In front of the fleet was three ships. Big enough to be frigates, but the way they were designed looked like some kind of carrier. That idea was proven as something jumped out of the sides of the crafts. Targeting systems activated but what the pilot saw just made his eyes widen. He thought that they were just drones, but that was not the case as he spied asari-looking aliens but they looked strange. Pink skin and feathers on their arms and some form of visor over their faces. On the underbelly was some kind of weapon. Where these things some kind of bio engineered soldiers?

The team leader moved up to the cockpit and looked at what the pilot was looking at. But he only got a moment look before the cockpit exploded from a rocket. The ship came down hard and crashed in a nearby forest. Out of a squad of 10 only four exited the craft with great difficulty.

"Command this is team 1, Marklok company, ship down pilot and team lead dead," one of them said as he pressed his radio.

"Understood, head to the rally point, but be aware we have reports of uncounted hostile types, possibly genetically created," the officer said.

"Wait genetically created?"

"Yes, we have reports of several different types. But we aren't sure which one is the leader species,"

"Under…" the soldier tried out say but gunfire caused him to take cover behind the ruined wreck with his fellow survivors.

He looked at the enemy who was firing but only stared as a 7-foot soldier with horns walked out of the forest carrying a large calibre weapon. He was bigger and taller than a Krogan, he also looked just as strong. There was no way he and his team had the firepower to deal with this beast. Grabbing the others, the pulled away trying not to get shot by the beast as they moved away.

Thankfully the beast didn't notice them allowing them to make their getaway.

OOOOO 6 hours after invasion

Commander Juliius Agation slammed his fist onto the holomap with anger. The situation was bad to say the least. Enemy forces had numbers and unexpected warriors at their command. The reports he was getting from the front was just bizarre at times. Half serpents, flying soldiers, varren moving warriors in some kind of packs. This mix of soldiers made things problematic, while the turians where known for their military prowess but this force was just testing their limits. What they were trained for just seemed useless now.

Forests were infested with the verren moving soldiers and reptilian like soldiers. The bigger horned soldiers were nigh unstoppable with their heavy armour and weapons. Fast for legged soldiers harassing them cutting off supply lines and soldiers flying in the air taking out the fighters. They managed to take the force out in space, but on the ground… they were facing multiple enemies who had strange animal like abilities that they could not track.

This was not simply one force, but multiple groups fighting in unison and with ease. The Turrians worked with Salarians and Asari before, while they worked well, they were still some rough edges with mixed species operations. For one, the Salarians took chances and attacked when the opportunity presented itself, the Asari on the other hand relied on small elite teams to punch though. But this was something different, it was clear that the enemy was some form of mixed force but they didn't have the same disjoined tactics as a mix forced would have.

It was as if they had been working for years and the tactics was moulded around this variety. The whole thing was too well coordinated for them to be just simply allies, each group was working to their own strengths. Ambush attacks, charges guerrilla attacks. The Turrians where not used to this form of combat. It wasn't as if that they were losing, they were gaining ground, but the enemy was putting up a strong fight. They were going to make the Turrians pay for each ship they lost, each life they took and every inch of ground they seized control of. This was going to be a long war.

OOOOO 3 days after invasion

Team 7 slowly made their way down the alien street carefully watching their sides. Despite the problems they were having, they knew that a few of the warriors they faced specialised in ambushes. Particularly the varren and serpent like warriors, the turrians lost a good number of their soldiers to these ambush tactics. The fact that there where few survivors just made them more dangerous. The varrens worked in packs and moved with speed by gaining the higher ground and using that to their advantage.

Either that or they came charging in with speed and ripped them limb from limb. It seemed that their jaws were powerful enough to rip Turrian carapace off. That didn't seem natural which just added to the idea that they warriors they were fighting were simply genetically modified soldiers of some kind.

As the team moved, they didn't notice eyes where on them. Slowly moving to a junction, the sound of gunfire made them react quickly and they jumped into cover. But they didn't expect what happened next as a serpent warrior jumped out from underground and wrapped them in its long tail before crushing them in its coils. The warrior didn't kill them but choked them until they fell unconscious. Prisoners ready for interrogation.

OOOOO 14 days after invasion.

Commander Juliius looked over the new reports of his logistical lines. The enemy was good, they knew where to hit them where it hurt the most. Food supplies were getting low to be a major concern. Rationing was getting worse, there was just not enough food to go around. Those flying enemies where annoying, they were too small to hit by anti-air without a lot flak. They where like birds, they could move so fast and naturally that even the best gunners could not target them with ease.

It was found out that flying enemies had some cybernetics to help them fly in in the air. These flyers seemed to have been born for air combat. If they couldn't deal with these flyers then the invasion may be brought to a halt. As a matter of fact, it may look that way, the supply lines from the Citadel could get cut off if the enemy had more ships. Given monitored communications, it looked that way. The fleet that protected this world wasn't the prime fleet. This was going to get messy.

"Incoming!" someone yelled and something hit the middle of the compound with a loud bang.

Juliius looked inwards to see an attack coming from all sides. The serpent monsters and the ones with four legs moved in fist taking out the defences. The krogan like ones then followed along with warriors who looked like asari. They came in fast and moved like lighting taking control in no time.

OOOOO 1 month after invasion.

Sparatus sat back in his chair as he looked over the reports of the attack at relay 314. It had been a month since the police action started but now it had turned into a massive nightmare. Despite their victories in orbit on the ground was a different story. Supply lines were cut and stolen, bases destroyed and unorthodox tactics. Whoever these aliens where they managed to take on the most powerful military in Citadel space and won the ground war. The space war not so much, but it looks like that they won that as well.

How could an unknown upstart race beat them? It made no sense. They were masters of warfare, of combat, so how did they lose this skirmish? This was escalating into full scale war now. Before he could do anything else the door to his office opened and an annoyed Travos and Valern walked in.

"Sparatus," Travos said through gritted teeth. "What is this we are hearing about full mobilisation of the Turrian military?"

To make an asari angry was not the best of moves if you wanted to live. "Err well err," he muttered looking to Valern for help but he shared the same look as the asari. "There was an incident when unknown ships were trying to activate a relay when out patrol was coming in, and they stopped them,"

"Given the mobilisation of your government's military I think what happened is obvious," Valern said looking at the Turrian with a glare that spoke volumes. "Your patrol engaged these aliens because they were unaware of a rule that we had. So, your commander took it upon himself to take action leading to a skirmish with these new aliens,"

Hearing this, Travos' eye twitched, she came to the same conclusion but hearing it just made her madder. "Why?" she hissed.

"They were trying to unlock a Mass Relay," he tried to defend but it fell on deaf ears.

"Did your officer ever think that they knew where it led? Or that they didn't know about the Rachni?" Trevos shot back.

That made the councillor go tight lipped about the subject. But that didn't go unnoticed by Trevos.

"What? Nothing else to say?" she shot.

Sparatus sighed and just looked at the report. "No, there is one thing. We lost,"

The anger fled from Trevos' and Valren's faces as they just looked at him with wide eyes.

"They what?" Valern asked.

"The aliens we fought, we had to abandon the planet after two weeks. We still held orbit and sent teams down but they were never heard from again,"

"You are telling us that despite being the best and largest military in the galaxy, your expeditionary force was wiped out? By an unknown force?" Trevos confirmed only to be answered by a nod.

"How?"

"They deployed these strange warriors, some of them flew, some slithered, others were like the Krogan. The variance of soldiers and tactics was too much for us to handle. Once we adapted to a new tactic, they changed theirs. They also focused on cutting out supply routs. But their tactics mostly focused around hitting and running before coming in force. We prepared for that tactic but they changed to dropping bombs on our bases,"

"Strange warriors?" Valern asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, have a look," the Turrian councillor muttered as he handed them a data pad.

OOOOO 1 week later.

Down at the diplomatic docks a crowd had gathered with people from all races who were eager to get a look at the new race who joined the galaxy at large. The news about what happened on world of Shanxi, as they named it, reached the ears of the galaxy. How the Turrians attacked an unknown race, how the unknown race won the war against the Turrians. Talk was everywhere, as was speculation but the facts where facts.

Tala M'toius was nervous to say the least. It wasn't every century you could report on a new race that handed the Turrians their asses on a sliver platter. Her drone was ready and waiting, a bleep then echoed in her ear and the camera turned on.

"Good morning Galaxy and welcome to Citadel news net!" she said in a cheery voice. "Today is a historic day for the Citadel as we welcome a new race into the fold! This channel is currently at dock 1, the main dock for any diplomats arriving at the Citadel. The new race call themselves humans, and this station has exclusive access to humans. All of which is on our main information page," as she spoke an angular yet sleek ship flew in and docked. "It looks like the ambassador is arriving now," she muttered as docking was complete.

The doors opened and a guard stepped out. He looked like a male asari with pink skin, two arms, legs eyes and so on. The only thing that was different was instead of the tentacles on the head they had fur on their head. It was surprising to see something similar to another race making people interested.

"Oh wow," Tala said with amazement and surprise. "Is this what humans look like?"

The human then stepped to one side allowing a 6ft creature emerged making people gasp. He stood tall with light grey hair and mutton chops on his cheeks. On top of his head sat a pair of pointed ears that twitched due to some unseen force. A grey bushy tail swung behind him and his blue piercing eyes looked from one to the other.

"Are they even human?" Tala asked before the ambassador emerged.

The tailed being then stepped to one said and the next creature surprised people even more. The top half of the next human was similar to that of the first, but this one was more Asari-like than the precious with a slender body and breasts. But below the hips was a red and pink serpent's body and tail. Large scales ran along the sides of her jaw and her eyes were clearly reptilian. Tala dropped her microphone and her jaw in utter shock. No one in the studio could blame her as they did similar things.

The serpent woman just sniggered. "Looks like we caught them off guard," she muttered while adjusting her glasses and moving forward with her two guards.

Tala moved quickly and grabbed her microphone. "It looks like humans come in many different shapes and forms. I think the galaxy just got bigger,"

The three moved forward up to the Council's representatives. "On behalf of the Citadel Council and Citadel space I welcome you to the Citadel," one of them said.

"On behalf of the Systems Alliance I accept this welcome, now if you please take us to your leaders," the half serpent said making the other two smiles.

"This way please," the representatives said as they moved to one side.

The group then began to walk but the 6-foot human stopped a few feet from the door. The others realised and looked to him. His nose and ears were twitching, he then looked to the crowd making some back up.

"Something wrong?" the ambassador asked.

"Bomb," he said before jumping.

As he jumped people began to move out of the way, but as soon as he landed, he pounced onto a Turrian and ripped part of the clothing off. In his hand was a bomb.

"GET OFF ME YOU FILTH!" the Turrian yelled as C-sec came up and secured him.

Once C-sec was there the human got off him and looked around before re-joining the others. The galaxy just became a more interesting place.

OOOOO years later

_In a dark room young tanned girl with short horns on her head lays strapped to a bed with only a light shining down on her. A silhouette of someone walked up to her only for the young girl's eyes to spy a man dressed in a white doctor's outfit. In his hand he held a syringe ready to be injected into the girl's body. She began to struggle, but the restraints held her tightly, she was not allowed to move let alone escape. The man touched her hand and stroked her hand gently. _

"_Hush girl, I'll make you better," he muttered before piercing her skin with the syringe and injected the liquid it contained into her._

_She screamed out loud as her body burned and her heart beat faster and faster._ Waking with a start a woman woke up with sweat pouring down her body and a pistol in hand pointing at nothing. But she sat like this for a few moments before moaning and falling back onto the bed. Looking up at the ceiling above her she let go of pistol and brushed the sweat off her face. After a few moments she pressed her fist against her head.

"Get outta there," she muttered before stretching out cracking her limbs. "Lights," she said and the lights came on before she claimed out of bed.

The woman was not fully human. While she is a member of the human species there are parts of her that made her into a demi-human. A taura minotaur to be specific, but there was a major difference between her and other minotaur's. First, her eyes were feline unlike the normal human like eyes of other Minotaur's as they were that of a feline. She doesn't produce milk on a yearly cycle milk, which is unusual for her kind for anyone over the age of 18 regardless if they mated or not.

Because these differences are not natural she was classed as a Minotaur Chimera. A human whose genetics has more than one demi human gene within their DNA. In her case, she had Nekomata, naga and wolf DNA. This lead to heightened senses, hearing, smell and speed. All of which minotaur's are not known for.

Chimea's were looked upon with pity by the rest of the human race but rarely discriminated against since they were, thankfully, rare. They were the results of trying to remove demi-human genes from the human genome, but it proved to be very, very difficult as it fundamentally changed the dna of humans. To remove demi human DNA has, for a long time, considered to be unethical and immoral. While there had been volunteers for testing the results always reminded the same, Demi human DNA could not be removed.

Walking over to the door she opened it only for light to temporally blind her. "Right," she said as her eyes adjusted and she looked down to see that she was half naked and closed the door. "Ah, wake up Shepard," she muttered to herself. "Don't want a bull coming,"

OOOOO

The refectory bustled with people as they moved around to get their breakfast. Nekomata, hudogs, centaurs, mermaids and more. Shepard walked away from the counter with a tray full of food. Twice the amount a normal human would need with three times as much meat. This was mostly due to her metabolism. She sat down and began to eat as one of her squad mates, Kadian, sat opposite from her.

"Moring commander," he said politely as he sat his tray in front of her with nearly the same amount of food on as the commander. "Sleep well?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she asked lazily as she chomped on several slices of bacon.

"Nightmares again?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "They never go away, and they never will,"

Kadian didn't say much. He and several others in the Alliance knew what happened to the commander in the past. Taken off the streets by an anti-demi human group and tested on wasn't the best of memories or news for people to hear. Humans like to think that they are united but bad blood always reared its head every now and again. She rubbed the side of her head as she could feel another headache come on.

Just then several Asari children walked in admiring the base. Each of them lined up for a tadeonal human breakfast asking questions. As they looked around one of them pointed to Shepard.

"Look a taura," she said and the others looked on in amazement.

"Don't point Narelphia," her teacher said. "Humans find it rude,"

"Sorry," the little asari said not taking her eyes off Shepard.

"Now children, can anyone remember why some humans look different from one another?" the teacher asked.

Almost immediately one of the children hand's shot up. "I know, I know," she said eagerly. "Because a rock hit the planet and released a virus that changed them!"

"Very good, but humans don't like the term virus. They prefer the term bacterium," the teacher corrected. "The term virus implies that it's going to be something nasty, but since they have now accepted what has happened the term virus is less then appropriate,"

As she continued to talk a voice came over the comm. "Normandy crew, prepare to disembark in 1 hour," it said.

"Well that's us," Alenko said as he stood allowing his wolf tail to wave. "Let's move,"

"Huh?" Shepard muttered as she chewed on the bone of the drumstick she just ate. "Ok," she said standing up towering over the huhound and just followed him.

OOOOO

_"Well what about Shepard?" Asked Udina. "She was born on earth but no record of her family,"_

_"Doesn't have one," Anderson said as he shook his head. "She grew up on the streets, learned to look out for herself. Until she was captured by an anti-demi human group,"_

_"She saw her entire unit die on Akuze, she could have serious emotional scars," Hackett said before adding something. "Probably less then what she experienced with that group," _

_"Is that the kind of person we want protecting the galaxy?" Udina asked for conformation._

_"That's the only kind of person who can protect the galaxy," Anderson said with authority. _

_"I'll make the call."_

The conversation echoed in Anderson's mind as Shepard walked in dressed in her black N7 armour. The conversation disappeared from his head as he turned to face her standing while doing so.

"Commander Zennea Shepard reporting for duty!" she said as she stood to attention and saluted.

Anderson saluted as well before offering his hand. "Good to see your doing well,"

"Thanks sir, I do my best," she gave a weak smile. "I never expected the ship to look like this," her hands rested on her hips as her architectural mind kicked it.

"Fresh off the assembly line," Anderson smiled as he sat down. "A combination of human and turian tech and design philosophy,"

"Well we did kick their asses during first contact, I mean thinking that minotaur's and centaurs are genetically modified soldiers," she laughed. "I mean, what were they thinking?"

The Captain smiled as well. "I remember the looks on their faces when we told them that we are the same race," he laughed as well. "Wish I took a picture. But we do have a spectre in board to watch the maiden mission of this ship, just bare that in mind. Other than that, we are making a quick stop to Eden prime before we head to the Citadel, just a shakedown mission for the ship and crew,"

"Understood sir, is there anything else you would to discuss?"

"How are you holding up? Alenko said that you had another nightmare," he said with a fatherly tone

"I'm fine," she defended, "It won't stop me from doing my job sir,"

"If you feel you are not up to it…"

"I'm fine sir,"

"Very well then, dismissed," he said making her salute before walking out of the office.

OOOOO

Shepard walked into the cockpit where the pilot, Joker, was doing his final relay jump checks while a turian in red armour stood behind him. The turian, Nihlus, happened to be a well-respected spectre who was sent by the Citadel to keep an eye on the Normandy. But Zennea knew that something was off, she could smell it.

"Thrusters check, navigation check, internal emissions sink engaged, drift just under 1500k," Joker said as he checks the main consoles that fed him the information about the main systems.

"1500 is good your captain will be pleased," Nihlus said in a neutral tone before walking away.

Joker watched him walk away until he was out of earshot then turned around " I hate that guy," he muttered with distain.

"Nihlus gave you a complement. So, you hate him?" Kadian asked in a questioning voice as he couldn't see the logic behind the pilot's distain.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit when you come out of the bathroom that's good," the pilot shot back in a sarcastic tone as Shepard moved behind him. "I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pin head. So that's incredible! Besides Spectres are trouble. I don't like having them on board. Call me paranoid,"

"Your paranoid the council helped fund this project they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment," the huhound countered.

"Yeah that is the official story but only an idiot believes the official story,"

"You always expect the worst Joker," Shepard said joining in with the discussion. "But I agree with Kadian to keep an eye on this project but a spectre they could have sent an engineer or Politian this makes no sense,"

"So, the higher ups are keeping more than they are letting on?" Joker said in concerned voice.

"Joker! Status report!" Anderson said in an angry voice over the comm link.

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid,"

"Good. Find a comm. buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime,"

"Aye, aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is heading your way,"

"He's already here, Lieutenant," he replied in an unimpressed tone as Joker shook his head in embarrassment.

"Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm. room for a debriefing,"

"You get that, Commander?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way," Shepard confirmed but before she turned, she slapped the pilot on the back of the head.

"Oww," he complained as the minotaur walked away. "Is it just me or does the captain always sound mad?" Joker asked rubbing his head

"Only when he's talking to you Joker," Kadian shot. "Why did you think the commander slapped you?"

Shepard walked down past the galaxy map allowing her to overhear

navigator Presley talking to Adams in engineering. They were having argument about Nihlus. It was obvious that Presley did not trust him due to the tone of his voice. Letting them have their conversation she continued walking to the comm room.

The main CIC was big, when compared to other ships of the same class. The ship was made by both humans and Turians as a joint venture between the two species as an effort for cooperation. Ever since the first contact war the two races had quite a bit of bad blood between them, all because of a Turian commander firing on a human fleet who tried to reactivate a mass relay. Now the two worked together as if it never happened, which was probably for the best. But it may have helped that the cooperation was forced on by the other races of the council and that humanity kicked the Turian's ass.

"I grew up on Eden Prime Doc it's not the kind of place spectres visit," Jenkins said as he talked to doctor Chakwas, a greying lamia.

A lamia was a half snake, half human demi human a lot going for them. Smart and fast, they could deal with quite a few situations. But they were mostly teachers and doctors due to their smarts, quickness and ability to learn quickly. Chakwas was not a special kind of lamia, but her scales and hair were showing her age by going grey and white.

As the commander approached Jenkins then saw Shepard approach them so he stood up straight and saluted. "What do you think Commander? We won't be staying long on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some action,"

"I sssincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal," Chawkas chided. "Your 'real action' usually endssss up with me patching up crew memberssss in the infirmary,"

"There is a difference between waiting to fight and wanting to," Zennea said. "Just remember a good soldier stays cool under fire and expects the unexpected,"

"Sorry Commander," the young private apologized. "But this waiting's killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board,"

"Just treat this like every other assignment you've had and everything will work out."

"Easy for you to say," Jenkins pointed out with a dismissive tone. "You proved yourself during the Akuze. Everyone knows what you can do,"

"You're young, Jenkins. You have a long career ahead of you. Don't make mistakes,"

"Don't worry, sir, I won't,"

"Now with that out of the way, either of you know anything about Nihlus?" the taura asked.

"I've barely sssaid a couple wordssss to him," Chakwas answered. "Ssso, we don't really know too much,"

"Well what do you know about the Spectres?"

"Only they ansssswer directly to the Council and act asssss a sssshadow organizzzzation. Their job issss to protect galactic ssssstability," the doctor said as if the organisation was something to be worried about.

"Protect it at any costs," Jenkins added. "Spectres operate outside the law. Humanity's been trying to get one of us in their organization for years. You know, Commander, you would make a good Spectre! You survived Akuze commander, they sure to have their eyes on you,"

"You've been watching too many ssspy moviessss, Jenkinsss," Chakwas sighed and rubbed her brow. "The Ssspectresss aren't interesssted in recruiting any of usss. All of thisss issss jusssst wild ssspeculation,"

"I'll leave you to it, the captain is waiting for me," Shepard then said.

"Of course, commander don't let us keep you," Jenkins then said.

Zennea then turned the corner and entered the comm room. Nihlus stood in front of a screen looking at images of Eden Prime. As she approached the Turrian turned to face her but was just staring at her chest.

"Ah," he muttered but took a moment to adjust his sight and look up at her. "Commander, I was hoping you would get here first. Gives us time to talk," if he was intimidated by her, he did not show it.

"What about?" she asked crossing her arms looking at him up and down.

"I want to know more about this colony, we are going to, Eden prime. I her it's something of a paradise," he said walking up and down worried about something.

With a light sniff of the air, Zennea could tell he was worried about something but decided to hold it off for now. "Well from what I understand it's fairly safe,"

"Yes... serene, tranquil, safe. Eden Prime is a symbol to your people. A perfect little world at the edge of your territory," he said as he turned around to face the screen. "Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies, but also protect them. Well you proved the latter years ago, but how safe is it really?" he turned faced Shepard again.

"Stop playing games, because I don't like them unless you want your head pounded into a wall. Now tell me what's going on?" she threatened flexing her muscles to make the point.

"You're quick to catch on," he said turning to face her not fazed by what she said.

"You smell," Zennea said as she tapped her nose with a slight smile. "Of fear, not much but the odour is still there,"

"I heard the demi humans had a strong sense of smell, but I didn't know it was that good," the Turrian muttered.

"I think it's time we tell the Commander what's really going on," Anderson said as he walked up to them, after hearing the last part of their conversation.

"This mission is far more than a shakedown run," Nihlus added

"That's pretty obvious," Shepard said.

"The Normandy is making a covert pick-up. That's why we needed the stealth systems,"

"There has to be a reason why you didn't tell me about this sir,"

"This comes down from the top commander, strictly need to know basis," he said as she moved to stand next to Nihlus. "A research team on Eden prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation, it was Prothean,"

That word made the minotaur's eyes widened and she knew what that meant. "What are the details?" she asked turning to face them.

"This is big Shepard. The last time humanity found a discovery like this, it jumped out technology forward 200 years. But Eden prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to take it back to the Citadel for proper study,"

"Obviously this goes beyond mere human interests Commander," Nihlus added. "This discovery could affect all species in council space, but It's also not the only reason I'm here," he said as he walked so that he could stand next to the commander.

"Nihlus wants to see you in action. He's here to evaluate you," Anderson said.

"For what?" the commander asked.

"The Alliance have been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come,"

"Even after we kicked their asses on Shanxi?" she asked jokingly

"Not many could have survived what you went through on Akuze. You showed a remarkable talent to live, a particularly useful talent," the Turrian said ignoring the Shanxi comment.

"Why me?" Zennea then asked. "Why not a normal human? Why a minotaur? A chimera of all things?"

"Why should those even matter?" Nihlus asked. "What you are is one type of human, I looked at all the others, even the normal ones. You are the only one who is perfect for the candidate. The others either have too little skill, will or experience to even qualify. You, however, have the skill, have the will and the experience. You qualify as a Spectre, I'm just here to make sure you live up to the expectation,"

While she didn't fully understand the reasons she just nodded in understanding. "I hope I live up to the expectation, what's next?"

"We should be getting…" he tried to say but Joker came over the com.

"Capitan sir we've got a problem," he said interrupting.

"What's wrong, Joker?" sensing the panic in his voice.

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!"

"Bring it up on screen," he ordered as he faced the holoscreen with the other two walking up next to him.

The holoscreen before them changed to a recording of a battle on Eden Prime. A female soldier in white and pink armour warning of an invasion, her helmet has triangular parts indication her demi-human status. She moved up and pushed down someone telling him to 'get down' before firing at something. The video then showed all firing stopping as it showed something before then ends with static.

"Everything cuts out after that," Joker said in a concerned voice. "No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing,"

"Reverse and hold at 38.5," Anderson ordered.

The video reversed and held at 38.5 seconds. On the image it showed something that the three has never seen before. Long tentacles extended from the main hull and it glowed with some form of red light. The Turrian's manacles twitched and the commander's eyes narrowed.

"Status report!" the Captain ordered.

"20 minutes out captain, no other ships in the area," Joker responded

Anderson nodded. "Take us in Joker fast and quiet this mission just got complicated," he said as he looked at Nihlus.

"A small strike team can make it without drawing any unwanted attention," the Turrian added.

Zannea looked at the image with an intense look. Something felt wrong, and whatever was going to happen it would change everything.

"I agree," she said.

"Both of you get ready and we'll meet in the cargo hold," Anderson said as the two turned and left.

Codex:

Demi-human:

Demi humans are a unique part of humanity. Not a natural formation but instead the result of a bacterium that caused humans to change from normal to demi. While the bacterium is long dead, the effects are still felt in the modern day. Half of the human population are demi humans who are quite skilled and have a reputation for costing the Turrians massive number of casualties during the first contact war.

When humanity entered the galactic stage, the other races thought that demi humans were some form of genetically altered slaves and soldiers. But the truth was far more surprising. While several salarians offered to try and find a cure, the offer was decided due to ethical and moral reasons.

Minotaurs:

Primarily a Mediterranean Demi-human, the Minotaur is from the Greek myths about a man with the head of a bull and legs of a bull. The Minotaur Demi-human is like the stories however there exists two primary types, Mythical and Irregular. Mythical describe the 'normal' look of a Minotaur with the bull head while the Irregular describes the Minotaur with horns and the lower half of a bull but with the normal head of a human. Aside from the aesthetics there is no direct difference between the two.

Female Minotaur's however tend to be like humans but around 6 feet tall with horns, tail and DD sized breasts. However, despite this they also have the abilities of the male counterparts such had enhanced strength. Female Minotaur's tend to be level headed and cool unlike the hot-headed males. One of their downsides however is the 'heat' phase that most demi-humans suffer. During this phase aside from the desire to breed, they need to be milked as their breasts produce milk during this time at large volumes that cannot be dealt with normally.

Due to their strength and toughness, Minotaurs are primarily used as heavy shock troopers and heavy weapons. Outside of combat, they are artisan masters and expert cooks.

Nekomata:

Commonly called Cat people, nekomata can be identified with the trademark ears on the top of their heads and a tail. Cat people tend to have a lazy attitude towards life for the most part but do quite well when ordered to. They have heightened reflexes and superior senses. Known for hunting for whatever they desire like food or knowledge. Lovable and cute, Cat people have had a long history on earth for many reasons.

Hue-hounds:

Hue hounds or Dog people are the second common Demi-humans on the planet due to their loyalty and frosty. Social and territorial to a fault unlike their Hue-cat cousins who are largely independent, Dog people tend to be more pack like and work well as teams. Unlike with Cat people, Dog people have highest smell and hearing as well as a loud voice. Just like with Cat people they have a long history on earth. They can be identified by the tails from their rears and ears on their heads.


	2. Chapter 2

As Alenko and Jenkins suited up Shepard felt her head begin to ache again. She rubbed it trying to loosen the pain even if it didn't do anything. Sighing she cursed that anti-demi human group for making her like this, if it wasn't for them, she could have been a proud soldier rather than a defective Minotaur. As soon as she finished getting ready, she, Anderson, Nihlus, Alenko and Jenkins stood in front of the cargo bay door.

"You ok there Shepard? Anderson asked.

"I've been dealing with a headache for the past hour sir, but I'm combat ready," Shepard replied.

"Approaching drop point one," Joker announced over the comm as Nihlus cocked his shotgun as the door opened.

"Nihlus you coming with us?" Jenkins asked.

"I move faster on my own," the turian replied before moving off the ship and jumping down onto the planet

"Nhilus will scout out ahead. He'll give you status reports throughout the mission," Anderson said

"We've got his back captain" she continued confidently

"The mission is yours now Shepard good luck,"

The Normandy flew towards the next point as quickly as it could.

"Approaching drop point two," Joker announced.

Shepard and Alenko jumped down first with the commander doing a hero landing and Alenko landing on all fours. Jenkins followed, as he joined them, they could see what was left of the colony. The sky was red like blood and the nearby buildings were destroyed from cannon fire. This colony was once a paradise, now in ruins. Jenkins could only sink to his knees while the two demi-humans sniffed the air.

"What's that smell?" Alenko asked.

"Dunno, it smells like oil, maybe metallic…" Zennea said as she readied her rifle.

"No," Jenkins said quietly.

"It's aright Jenkins we will make them pay," Shepard said while putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Aye aye commander," he said standing

"What are those?" Kaidan pointed at some sort of flying bags.

"Gas bags," Jenkins answered. "Don't worry, they're harmless."

The squad the moved up and rounded to a clearing filled with rocks. They stopped next to a couple of spaced out rocks allowing Shepard to scan the area. To her feline eyes it seemed clear. She then signalled Jenkins to move forward to a small cropping of rocks. As he did whirl sound made their presence noticed as two drones came out from behind the trees ahead and opened fire on Jenkins.

Jenkins screamed as the rounds cut right through his shield. Shepard slid out from her cover and fired at the drones in bursts while Kadian moved around to flank the drones. His animal instincts kicked in and he jumped at one. Normal human teeth would have broken as soon as they would attempt to bite down on metal. However, given that Kadian happened to be a hu hound wolf, it was a different story.

Most demi-humans who joined the military get genetic enhancements that increase their abilities. In Kadian's case, his jaw muscles had been enhanced so that he could rip though anything along a strengthening of his fangs.

His jaw bit down so hard that part of the plating cracked. Grabbing his pistol, he fired into the machine's circuitry making the machine fall to the ground. The other one tried to raise up but Shepard moved up fast grabbed it by the gun before smashing it into a rock. It didn't do much until she unloaded her rifle into it until it overheated. That finished it off. Kadian then walked up to Jenkin's body and checked his pulse as Zenna walked up to the two as the biotic gently closed the dead soldier's eyes.

"Went right through his shield," Kaidan commented as he stood. "Never stood a chance,"

"We'll see that he is honoured, but right now I need you to keep your wits about," she replied.

"Yes, Commander," he said as two more drones entered the area and opened fire on the two soldiers.

Shepard and Kaidan took cover behind the rock outcropping that Jenkins failed to reach. Kaidan took out his pistol while opened fired with her rifle in short bursts.

"Aim for the closest one," she ordered.

Both soldiers aimed and destroyed the closest drone. The remaining drone tried to flee but before it could Shepard jumped up and grabbed it. Like the other one she slammed it into a wall before unloading her rifle until it overheated.

"You minotaur's always love using that tactic," Kaidan commented as he walked to stand next to Shepard.

"Because it works," she answered with a smile.

Kadian just smiled and shook his head as Nihlus came on the radio. "Lots of burnt out buildings here, Shepard," he said over the comm. "A lot of bodies. I'm going to check it out. I'll meet you at the dig site,"

"Aye, aye," Shepard said back. "See you there. Nihlus,"

The two then moved up through the trees keeping out for any more drones. A small clearing came up as she and Kadian stopped on a platform overlooking the clearning. A female hu-hound alliance soldier in white and pink armour ran around a corner on all fours like a dog followed by two drones. The drones fired her, one missed while the other impacted her shield. She spun round and opened fired at the drones with her pistol. The rounds hit their mark making the two drones fell down into the dirt.

The marine slowly stood before witnessing a civilian get impaled by some device. Fear running though her, she ran behind a rock breathing deeply while drawing her rifle. Two machines, that held the civilian down, spotted her run and moved up to the rock the marine was hiding behind.

Kadian and Zenna looked to each other before making a move. Grabbing her sniper rifle Zenna aimed and began to offer cover fire for Kadian as he distracted the machines. His speed allowed him to move around them fast making the machines try to get a lock on but failed. A loud bang sounded and one fell, another bang and the other fell. Zenna then jumped down and walked up to the marine with Kadain close behind.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212th," the marine saluted. "You the one in charge here ma'am?"

"Are you wounded and please don't sniff my colleges butt," the commander said making the two laugh.

"A few scrapes, burns and a punch to the stomach," she answered with a sigh "The others weren't so lucky. We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack it. We tried to double back to the beacon but we got cut off. I've been fighting for my life ever since,"

"Where's the rest of your squad?" the commander then asked.

"We tried to double back to the beacon but we walked into an ambush," she said with sadness in her voice. "I don't think any other others… I think I'm the only one left,"

"This isn't your fault Williams," the commander said trying to comfort her. "You couldn't have done anything to save them,"

"Yes sir," the gunnery chief said feeling relived but still guilty. "We held out position for as long as we could, until the geth overwhelmed us,"

"The geth haven't been seen outside the veil in 200 years, why are there now?" Kadain asked.

"They must have come for the beacon," Ashley responded.

"It does explain the smell Kadain," Zenna said tapping her nose and the biotic nodding before turning to the marine. "Where's the beacon?"

"It's close just over that rise,"

"We need to get to the beacon. We could use you help," Shepard then said.

"Of course, sir. It's time for payback,"

"Let's move,"

The three of them then moved up to where Ashley came from before being attacked by a large group of geth soldiers. Getting behind cover, Zenna looked at the machines firing at them then at the two hu-hounds who were also in cover. Hu hounds be it wolf or dog were pack animals. They worked well together in a group. Taking a deep breath, she began to move.

"Flank them!" she yelled before firing at the geth getting their attention.

The two hu-hounds growled and pounced. Demi human armour wasn't like regular armour, instead it was made so that each demi-human could use it for their strengths. Hu-hound armour was made with agility in mind so the armour part was around 25% less than human armour. Zenna's however had larger plates making it heavy but also stronger making her a hulking tank. As the hu-hounds jumped, she emerged from cover and fired.

Ashley jumped in fast landing on one of the geth soldiers and ripped into its 'neck' and ripped it open while Alenko found a good place to perch and threw several geth into walls using his biotics. Zenna moved up taking out a geth that was aiming at Ashley before throwing a grenade. It detonated taking out the geth's shields before the team took the rest of them out. With the area clear they moved further on into the dig sight.

The three of them walked up to what looked like a pedestal on the floor which confused the pink and white armoured marine.

"The beacon was just here a minute ago," Ashley said in disbelief. "It was right here, it must have moved it,"

"By who our side or the geth?" Kadian asked.

"Hard to say. Maybe we can find out more at the research camp,"

"Do you think anyone made it out?" Shepard asked as she gave a slight sniff of the air.

"Maybe they hiding at the camp, it's just at the top of this ridge up the ramp," Ash answered

"Change in plan, Shepard," Nihlus reported. "There's a space port just ahead. I'll meet you there."

The team then moved up the ramp weapons up ready for action as they entered the camp which was full of those spikes.

"Looks like they hit the camp hard," Ashley commented.

"Keep your guard up," Kaidan cautioned. "This is a good place for an ambush."

The humans at the top didn't look human any more. They looked more like a mixture of organic and synthetic tissue. The remaining organic flesh was grey from decay. The spikes shook and then lowered.

"My god they're still alive!" Kaidan gasped.

"What did the Geth do to them?" Ashley asked out loud.

Zenna said nothing as she grabbed her shotgun and moved up. "Don't bite them," she ordered as she aimed her shotgun and fired taking one of the creatures down.

The two nodded and grabbed their weapons. These creatures came running at them forcing the team to fire at the oncoming creatures. Zenna, being a minotaur, charged in guns blazing and destroyed two more by simply running into them and crushing them under foot. Ashley jumped onto the roof of one the buildings and began to used her rifle's semi auto function to take out the creatures one by one. Kadin however moved back and threw multiple warp balls making the creatures float making them easy to take down.

With the area clear Zeena moved up to one of the corpses and looked at it. "What is this thing?" she asked as Ash joined them.

"It came from those spikes," Ashley replied. "The Geth have been placing people onto these things,"

"So, it turns them into this?" Kadian asked. "That's sick, I wonder if the Qurrians had to deal with this,"

Shepard shook her head and stood looking around only to see some movement between the shutters of one of the buildings. She signalled to the squad to move up quietly. The two hu-hounds moved up first and fast while Shepard moved up along with them. Positioning themselves at the door Zenna took a hold of the door before ripping the lock off and the three entered only to find two scientists trying to hide. That made the commander feel guilty about ripping the door off

"Don't shoot!" a woman yelled. Her eyes widen. "Humans! Thank god,"

"Hurry, close the door!" the other scientists pleaded. "Before they come back,"

Shepard lowered her rifle and held up her hand in a non-threatening way. "Don't worry. We'll protect you,"

"It's okay," the woman reassured the other scientist. "It looks like everyone's gone,"

"You're Doctor Warren," Ashley said recognising the woman. "In charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?"

"It was moved to the spaceport this morning," Warren answered. "Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up the camp. When the attack happened, the marines held them off while we hid. They gave their lives to save us."

"No one is safe!" Manuel interrupted. "The age of Humanity is ended. Soon, only ruins and corpses will remain,"

"Is your assistant okay?" Shepard asked sensing something was wrong with him.

"Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit... unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin," Warren answered.

"Is it madness to see the future?" Manuel asked as his delusions began to take an even greater hold on him. "To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand that there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one here,"

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack, but I don't think it did much,"

"The prophet led the Geth here. He is the bringing of the destruction that is to come!"

Shaking her head Zenna turned to look outside for a moment before a question came to mind. "Have you seen a Turian pass by here, red army grayish skin?"

"The Turian. He came here with the Geth."

"What?" Kaidan asked in surprise. "Can't be Nihlus he was with us when all of this started,"

"That could only mean that there's another Turian here, something smells wrong," Zenna said looking at the Scientists. "This is the code to get in contact with our ship, the Normandy get in contact with them and get to safety," Warren nodded as the minotaur opened up her omni-tool and sent the info before leaving.

OOOOO

Moving up onto the main monorail platform Nihlus saw something move. In reaction he moved into cover while keeping one eye open. The figure who stepped out was a surprise to the Spectre making him leave his cover.

"Saren?" he asked surprised making the Turian turn to face the red armoured soldier.

"Nihlus," he stated before slowly walked towards him.

"This isn't your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?" Nihlus asked approaching his friend.

"The Council thought you could use some help on this one," Saren assured him as he walked by him, patted him on the shoulder before ending up behind him.

Felling reassured Nihlus dropped him guard. "I wasn't expecting to find Geth here. The situation's bad,"

"Don't worry," his friend said as he turned around while pulling out his hand cannon and aimed at the back of Nihlus' head. "I've got it under control,"

OOOOO

As the team moved up around a corner a loud gunshot echoed across the colony making the team stop and look around. But nothing else happened so they moved up. They walked into a large clearing overlooking the monorail station. But something in the distance made them stop in their tracks and just stare at it. It looked like a black squid that was as tall as a skyscraper. It made the three very uncomfortable just looking at it.

"That thing is massive!" Ashley gasped.

Something pinched the back of Zenna's mind. Something was wrong very wrong. Demi-human instincts were ten times that of a normal human. A danger instinct, as it were, and the minotaur's was acting up. Several spikes ahead activated and lowered down. Half a dozen husks groaned and moaned as they woke up.

"Get ready incoming!" Kadian yelled as he aimed and began to fire.

Ashley followed while Zenna jumped off the platform shotgun in hand and began to cut into the creatures that were approaching. But as she advanced the ground underneath her began to shake slightly and something resembling a Naga jumped out of the ground. Before she could react, the Naga coiled around her and began to squeeze her making her armour buckle and her to choke. Her arms were by her sides making it hard to pull free. As she tried to struggle the Naga then moved in and growled.

That turned into a mistake as the minotaur head-butted the Naga with one of her horns punching through the head of the creature. That killed it and the coils loosened around her. Zenna managed to get out of the restrains and pulled the head off her horn. She then kicked it in response as the other two moved up. While she was busy Kadian and Ashley took out the rest of the creatures before regrouping with the commander.

"A Naga?" Kadian asked looking at the corpse.

"Something like it, but it's like those other creatures," Zenna said as she wiped her horn of the blood. "It seems that they wait under the ground before ambushing their prey,"

"I wonder what other demi-humans look like if the Geth did this to the others," Ashley muttered.

Zenna said nothing but just agreed. Minotaur's didn't like to fight unless they knew what they were fighting. A combat philosophy that they had since their inception. To know one's enemy, is to know how to defeat them. Zenna was no different to this philosophy. She looked around before spotting a body on the way to the monorail.

"Guy's," she muttered walking up the stairs and next to the body.

"It's Nihlus," Kadian muttered as he squatted down looking at the body.

"Something's moving!" Ashley then reacted making her and Zenna pull their pistols out. "Over behind those crates,"

A nekomata then walked out with his hands up. "Wait don't shoot! I'm one of you I'm human," he said.

"Sneaking up on us like that almost got you killed!" Zenna said angerly lowing her weapon.

"I…I'm sorry, I was just hiding from those creatures," he said quickly as Zenna and Ashley lowered their weapons. "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that Turian. The other one shot him,"

"Your saying that there's another Turian?" Zenna asked feeling her assumption that there was more than one Turian here vindicated.

"The other one got here first," Powell confirmed. "He waited for your friend, Saren, he called him. I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax, let his guard down. Then Saren shot him. Shot him right in the back. I'm lucky that he didn't find me,"

That hit the team as odd but there were more pressing concerns. "We where told that a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. What happened to it?"

"It's over on the other platform," he answered quickly. "Probably where that Saren guy was headed. He hopped onto the cargo train after he killed your friend. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. Frist that damned mother ship, then the attack. They killed everyone, everyone! If I wasn't behind the crates, I'd be dead too!"

That explained something but not everything and Zenna pressed the issue. "Why were you behind the crates unlike everyone else?"

He sighed. "They never had a chance. I was already behind the creates when the attacked started,"

"Wait a minute, you where behind the crates before the attack?" Kadian asked questing Powell's motives.

"I… sometimes I need a nap to get though my shift. I sneak off behind the crates where the supervisors cannot see me so I can grab forty winks," he admitted.

"Your survived because you are lazy?" Ashley asked angry.

"Relax, Nekomata are known for being lazy at times," Zenna said with a piercing look at Powell.

Her tone made it clear that while she was understanding, she wasn't going to let that little fact go.

"Yeah, I do…don't want to think about it," he admitted.

"Come on, we need to find that beacon,"

"Take the cargo train, I… I can't stay here, I need to get way from this place," Powell said leaving.

Zenna shook her head. Nekomata were both active and lazy. Some more than others, but she felt it unfair to make judgement based on instinct actions like sleeping. But she didn't have time to dwell on it as Geth began to fire at them. Breaking formation the three split and began to fire. The rounds impacted the Geth shields which were surprisingly weak. But once they were down Ashley pouched on the nearest one and bit into the cables ripping them out.

The other however was ripped apart by Zenna who charged up to it and pulled its limbs off. But as she did so she was attacked by Geth on the trains. She then picked up what was left of the Geth soldier and threw it at the Geth on the train. The body managed to hit a few of them pinning them down. A grenade then appeared before them and detonated taking them and a few others out. Kadian then moved onto one of the train carriages followed by Ashley who threw a couple of grenades to where the Geth where taking cover.

Kadian and Ash then took cover as the grenades exploded taking out a few of the Geth. But a big one was unaffected by the explosions and just fired its heavy gun at them. The two hu-hounds tried to take the machine down but it's shields and armour was too strong for their weapons. When it got close Zenna then jumped down behind it then ripped it's arm off making it turn to her only for her to place a grenade in an opening before backing up. The machine tried to remove the grenade but it exploded taking it out before it could do anything.

"Come on, we have a beacon to recover," the minotaur said.

OOOOO

With the area clear Saren looked at the glowing beacon, there was something majestic about it and he just wanted to take a moment.

Once that moment was done, he turned to the Geth who walked up next to him. "Set the charges. Destroy the entire colony leave no evidence that we were here," he ordered

The Geth nodded and went over to set the nuclear devices with the other platforms while Saren approached the beacon. A burst of energy emanated from it making Saren levitated in the air to receive the beacon's message.

OOOOO

The tram reached its destination. Every Geth in the area was notified of its presence. "There planning to destroy the colony," Shepard said while jumping over the railings. "Cover me while I disarm the bombs,"

The two howled in response as they moved up the ramp while Zenna hacked the bomb. It wasn't simple, but removing the detonation mechanism was the best way to stop it. It didn't take long until the device was disarmed. She then joined up with the others and fired at the Geth from across the bridge. They didn't have time for a prolonged firefight. Seeing his chance, Kadian moved up fast to one of the alcoves across the bridge taking cover. Exiting from cover he threw a singularity removing the shields from the Geth before he opened fired with his pistol taking out three of the Geth.

Ashley moved up taking out the reminder herself. The three then ran to the other end of the platform to the final bomb which Zenna worked quickly to disarm. With a satisfied sighed she dropped the detonation device. Now all that was left was the beacon. The beacon glowed with a brilliant green light. The thee moved up and around the ancient t device making sure it was clear. With nods from the other two Zenna was satisfied that the area was clear and activated her comm.

"Normandy, we've recovered the beacon. We need pick-up at my location..." she said as the two hu hounds approached it but kept their distance.

"An actual working beacon," Kaidan said in disbelief. "Incredible," he said before turning to walk back to Zenna.

"It wasn't doing anything like that when they first dug it up," Ash commented with an odd look. "Something must have activated it,"

She slowly approached the Prothean relic but a burst of energy came from the device. A force then started to pull Ashley towards it.

Shepard did a double take at Ash before charging in. She jumped up and grabbed Ash by the waist before throwing her away as far as she could before the beacon pulled her into the air.

"Sheaprd!" Ashley tried to run to her.

Kaidan grabbed her and yelled, "No! It's too dangerous!"

Images rushed through Shepard's head. Millions being slaughtered on many worlds. Synthetic creatures. A roar from the ship they saw earlier as it stood before an eclipsed planet. Pain shot through her entire body and she was reminded of the anti-demi-human group. The beacon overloaded and the blast knocked Shepard to the ground causing her to finally black out.

OOOOO

Groaning as she slowly opened her eyes she found herself in the med-bay with Ashley and Chakwas looking over him.

"She's awake!" Ashley said as she sat up.

"You gave ussss a sssscare, Commander," Chakwas said. "How're you're feeling?"

Zenna just shook her head and rubbed the side of her forehead. "Like someone came at me with a stampede of centaurs," she groaned. "How long was I out?"

"About fifteen hourssss. Sssssomething happened down there with the beacon," the doctor said as she made a few notes.

"It was my fault, Commander," Ashley interrupted. "I must have triggered some security field,"

"You had no idea if that's what set it off," Shepard assured her. "It wasn't your fault."

A smile came across her face.

"Unfortunately, we may never find out," Chakwas said as the commander pulled herself so that she was at the edge of the bed

"The beacon overload and the blast knocked you out," Ashley filled in. "LT and I carried you back here."

"I appreciate it," Zenna nodded.

"Physically fine, I've detected odd brain readingssss. Abnormal beta wavessss ussssually connected with intense dreaming. Did anything happen while you were out?" the doctor asked concerned with what the commander dreamt

"I saw," Zenna started but stopped taking a moment processing what she saw. "I'm not sure, death and destruction. It's really hard to tell, It's still fuzzy, nothing's clear,"

"Hmm, I sssshould add thissss to my report it may be connected with ssssomething," she said but just then the door opened Anderson walked in. "Ahh Capitan Anderson,"

"How's our XO doing?" he asked.

"Ssssshe'll be fine," the doctor answered. "Jusssssst needsssss to take it easssssy for a while. But I doubt minotaurssss know how to relax," Zenna shot the doctor an amused but unimpressed look.

"That's good to hear. I'm going to need to talk to Shepard, in private," Anderson said not trying to be subtle.

"Aye, aye, I'll be in the mess Commander," Ash saluted and followed the Naga out of the medical bay.

Once the door was shut Anderson started. "It seems that beacon hit you hard, Commander. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked concerned

"I don't like soldiers dying under my command," Zenna replied angrily.

"Jenkins wasn't your fault, Shepard. You did a good job," he said trying to reassure her.

"So, you wanted to speak to me?" she asked wanting to get this over with and go to and get some sleep.

"I won't lie to you Commander. Things look bad. Nihlus is dead. The becaon's been destroyed and the geth are invading. The Council are going to want answers," he said with a tone that made it sound that they were in trouble.

This was the first major invasion that humanity lost since they stepped onto the galactic state. This maybe seen as small, the consequences of this meant that others would make tries at the Alliance.

"I did nothing wrong, Captain. I just hope they know that," she said in an annoyed tone knowing what this all meant.

"I'll stand behind you and your report, Shepard. You're a damn hero in my books. Though that's not why I'm here. It's Saren. The other Turian Spectre. He's one of the best. A legend. But if he's working with the Geth that means that he's gone rogue. A rogue Spectre is trouble. Saren's dangerous and he hates humans," Anderson's tone changed as he spoke to one that was darker and concerned.

"Why? Because we kicked their asses at Shanxi?"

"Yes and no, he thinks that we're expanding too fast. Most aliens think that way, but most don't do anything about that because they know that it would be a losing battle. But Saren has allied himself with the Geth. I don't know how or why, but it has something to do with the beacon. You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see or hear anything that could give us a clue?"

"Before it blew, the beacon gave me some kind of vision," she said as she picked the images together as beast as she can.

"A vision? A vision of what?" he asked with interest.

"Destruction of everything in the galaxy. Geth, maybe, killing everything, it's not fully clear," she admitted.

Something akin to hope appeared in the Captain's eyes. "We need to report this to the Council,"

"And say what? I had a bad dream?" she asked with a slight chuckle.

"We don't know what type of information was stored in that beacon. Saren took it. He has influence in politics and has forces of geth. He will stop at nothing to see humanity wiped from the galaxy," he said without a hint of amusement

"I'll find some way to take him down," Zenna said with determination.

"It's not that easy. Saren's a Spectre and can do almost anything. We need to get the Council to revoke his Spectre status. The ambassador will set up our meeting and will want to meet us right away. We should be getting close to the Citadel now. Go up and tell Joker to bring us into dock," he ordered.

"Aye, aye, Captain," the minotaur saluted before leaving groaning knowing that she wouldn't get any sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The Normandy soon hit the mass relay sending the ship towards the Citadel. Interested, Ashley and Kadian, who had never seen the megastructure before, made their way up to the cockpit to get a good look. As the ship flew thigh the nebula the immense structure of the Citadel came into sight. Zenna came up as well eating some meat while looking out of the windows with the others.

Ashley and Kadian were in awe of the structure as they began to approach.

"Look at the size of it," Ashley awed before spotting the largest dreadnaught in the fleet.

"That," Kadian said. "Is the destiny ascension, the capitol ship of the Citadel fleet,"

Shepard leaned in to have a look, but was unimpressed with the ship. "Well, it's tall." She muttered. "But it's not like the Titan,"

That earned a nod from the other two. The Titian was arguably the largest ship in the galaxy and was the main command centre for Alliance command. But due to its size, it violated one of the many Citadel rules of engagement treaties. So, it was a point of debate whether or not the ship should be cut down. But either way the three just looked on as Joker took them into the docks.

Even with all of this in mind, it was major point of pride for minotaurs to the point where they are the most vocal against its dismantling. Mostly because, they are the ones responsible for designing and building it.

OOOOO

Looking out from the balcony from Undia's office, Shepard, Ashley and Kadian watched as the people around the Presidium went about their routine. The view was impressive, but Shepard had a hard time admiring it. While Minotaurs had a reputation for being hard to take down, they also had one for being the best builders on earth. It was instinctual part of their psychology, when not fighting they turned towards more creative pursuits such as art, food and building.

Zenna was no exception to this rule. From time to time she would be in her room, office or some form of workshop tinkering with her armour and weapons. Unlike other demi humans like the Lima or catgirls who had a mind for the medical, minotuars had a mind for engineering and building. They built things such as Tower bridge, Eiffel tower and more. Because of this as she looked out at the Presidium, she saw plenty of thing she didn't like from both an asthenic and engineering perspective. But yelling of Udina drowned out her thoughts.

"This is unacceptable!" Udina roared. "The Council would step in if the Geth attacked a Turian colony! I demand action!"

"You don't get to make demands of the Council!" Sparatus snapped at him. "And here I thought humans could take care of their own colonies,"

"Humanity knew the risks when the Alliance colonized the Traverse," Trevos said in a calmer, more understanding tone.

"What about Saren?" the human ambassador asked accusingly. "You can't ignore a rogue Spectre!"

"C-Sec is finishing their investigation into your accusations. We'll speak more at the meeting. Not before," at that the holograms vanished making an annoyed Udina turn to Anderson.

"I'm see you got the Council to agree to the meeting," Anderson said keeping his cool.

"Yes, but they aren't happy," Udina grumbled. "Saren is one of their best Spectre agents. They don't like it when one of their Spectres are charged with treason,"

As Shepard moved next to Anderson annoyance started to grow inside her. "It does not change the fact that Eden prime was attacked by the Geth. And a rogue Turian Spectre who is leading them," she said in an aggressive tone.

"Calm down, Shepard," Udian chided. "You've already done enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres. The Eden Prime mission was to prove you could handle things. Instead Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed,"

"Like I give a shit about my candidacy," she spat. "I didn't ask for it,"

"Besides that, was Saren's fault not hers," Anderson defended.

"Well, we better hope that C-Sec turns up some evidence or the Council may use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres," Udina quickly left the room.

"And that's why I hate politicians," Ashley scowled.

"You're not the only one," Zenna said as she cracked her neck.

"Shepard, you and your squad should hurry to the Citadel," Anderson said. "I'll meet you there,"

"Yes sir." she said as Anderson walked out.

"Shall we get going?" Kadian then asked.

Shepard nodded and walked out the office with the other two following her.

OOOOO

The three of them exited the lift with little to stop them. As they followed the pathway to the chambers two Turians started arguing about current events.

"Just give me some more time," the Turian in the blue armour said. "Stall them!"

"Stall the Council?" the other chided. "Your investigation is over, Garrus."

As Shepard and her group approached the Turian he turned to face them and approached. "Commander Shepard?" he asked earning a nod from the commander. "Garrus Vakarian," he introduced himself. "I was in charge of the investigation into Saren,"

"From the sound of thing, it doesn't seem like you didn't have much luck," she said.

"No," he agreed reluctantly. "Saren's a Spectre. Anything he touches becomes classified. I couldn't find anything solid. But like you Humans say 'I feel it in my gut'. He's up to something. I know it," Garrus let out a sigh. "But hopefully the Council will listen to you,"

"Thank you, Garrus." Shepard nodded to her squad and they walked up to a set of stairs leading up to the podium.

As they approached Ashley and Kadian stopped and waited at the foot of the stairs while Shepard with Anderson and Udina walked up them. The three Council representatives stood behind their podiums. The look of contempt was very clear on the Sparatus councillor's face, he wasn't impressed by the accusations of a rouge Spectre. A twenty-foot-tall hologram of Saren was displayed to the left side of the room.

As Shepard approached, she noticed what seemed to be a smirk of his face. Arrogance was something she despised.

"The Geth attack is a matter for some concern, but there is nothing to suggest that Saren was involved in any way," Trevos declared in her normal clam tone.

"The investigation by C-Sec turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," Sparatus added with a hint of anger.

"I resent these accusations," Saren said. "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard," Anderson shot back.

"Captain Anderson? You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me," Saren looked to Shepard a little surprised to see a minotaur. "And this must be your protégé. Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in a barn? Cow?"

"Tell me how in the hell you know about the beacon?" Shepard asked doing her best to hide her anger at the insults. "Eden Prime was a classified mission,"

The Spectre's mandibles twitched witch Shepard gave a small smile for.

"Upon request, I can get information on whatever Spectre mission I wish. This was no exception. I read the reports. I was not impressed. But what can you expect from humans?"

Zenna looked to the Council. "If I recall we aren't at war with anyone. Saren despises Humanity. That's one of the reasons why he attacked the colony. Those insults show his lack of respect,"

"Humanity needs to learn its place," Saren scolded. "You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres."

"He has no…" Udina was about to say but Zenna couldn't hold back

"To hell with the Spectres and your council!" she yelled making eyes widen towards her. "I don't care about all of that garbage! All I care is about who is responsible for an attack on a human world by the geth! They haven't been seen outside of the veil for over 200 years, a nebula that's a few hundred light years away from Eden prime. Not to mention the finding of the beacon was classified on a high level. Even if they managed to crack the encryption codes it would take them longer then it took me and the Normandy to get there. Someone told them about the beacon, someone…" she looked up to Saren. "…with classified information,"

"While Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting," Trevos said to bring order back to the meeting. "The commander does raise a valid point. Who reviled the existence of the beacon to the geth?" discreetly she looked up at Saren and her mind turn to think if the accusations are right.

"This meeting has no purpose!" Saren scowled. "The Humans are wasting your time Councillor. And mine,"

"Saren is hiding behind his status to cover up everything he's done," Shepard argued. "He's is abusing his Spectre status to cover up the information that the investigation was trying to find. Not to mention you gave them a limited amount of time to investigate," her eyes looked to Sparatus.

Trevos also looked to the Turian with a slightly raised brow. She knew how the humans embarrassed the Turian government and military during the first contact war. A lot of Turians harboured resentment against the humans for that, but they did have respect as well.

"There is one outstanding," Anderson said. "Shepard's vision may have been triggered by the beacon,"

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence?" Saren asked sarcastically. "How can I possibly defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

"I agree," the Turian Councillor said. "Our judgement must be based on facts and evidence. Not wild imaginings and reckless speculation"

"With respect councillor visions from the beacon and other Prothean devices deserve merit," Shepard answered matter-of-factly. "And this has no bearing on the guilty or innocence of Saren,"

The Councillor's looked at each other. The Valern and Trevos nodded while the Sparatus shook his head. The Asari then gave a serious look at the Turian who then nodded reluctantly.

"Commander Shepard please tell us what you saw," the Asari then said.

"To tell you the truth I'm not too sure what I saw. Death, destruction machines killing millions. Maybe more. It's not too clear, it's more like a jumbling of images and sounds. Nothing is clear,"

"Do you know if these machines are Geth?" Valern asked.

"I'm sorry I have no idea," Shepard replied. "If I find anything else, I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Commander," the Asari then said. "But back to the subject at hand. Is there anything else you would like to say for this hearing?"

"I have no more evidence to put forward," Zenna said reluctantly.

"The Council have found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the Geth," Trevos announced. "Ambassador, your petition to have Saren disbarred from the Spectres is denied,"

"I'm glad to see justice has been served," Saren said cockily before his hologram disappeared.

OOOOO

The council walked into their side chambers with little relief. But Sparatus smiled to himself.

"Ahh finally we can put this little debacle to rest," he said as he sat down and poured himself something.

But Trevos had other ideas. "No, it's not," she said making the other two looks at her. "Like it or not Zenna Shepard has a point. If they were not informed, it would have taken them hours. They would have been there after the humans removed it from the planet,"

Valan nodded, but Sparatus was sceptical. "You can't be serious? The investigation…"

"Will be handled by the Asari and Salarian members of C-sec," Trevos interrupted. "We all know what happened during the first contact war. One cannot help but to think that there is still some bad blood between humans and Turians," the look on her face clearly said that Sparatus wasn't going to get his way this time.

"Bu…" he tried to say.

"Nothing, we need to have an impartial judgement about this matter. Besides you heard Shepard. She couldn't care less about being inducted Spectres, that means even if he's not responsible, he is guilty about something. Or at the very least she is convinced that he is guilty. It maybe time that we re-evaluate the decision to make all actions by Spectres a secret,"

OOOOO meanwhile

"It was a mistake bringing you to that hearing, Captain," Udina scolded as they walked down the stairs. "You and Saren had too much history. It made the Council question our motives. And Shepard! What the hell were you thinking?"

"We minotaurs are quick to anger, or did you forget what he called me?" she asked barring her fangs.

"Well it just only added to irritate the Council. We don't need to worry about them as well as Saren," the ambassador said in anger.

"I know Saren," Anderson said. "He's working for the Geth for one reason. To exterminate the entire Human race. Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even earth isn't safe!"

"Right now, we need to find evidence of Saren's treachery. Sorry sir, but all we had was words and hearsay. Nothing concrete," Shepard said

"Yeah I know," the captain admitted.

"As a Spectre, Saren is untouchable," Udina commented. "We need to find some way to expose him,"

"What about Garrus?" Kaidan suggested. "That C-Sec investigator. We saw him arguing with the Executor,"

"That's right!" Ashley said remembering. "He was asking for some more time. It seems like he was close to finding something,"

"Anyone know where we could find him?" Shepard asked.

"I have a contact in C-Sec who may be able to help track him down. He's name is Harkin," Udina offered but Anderson didn't like that idea

"Forget it," Anderson scolded. "Harkin was suspended for drinking on the job. I wouldn't waste my time with him,"

"Cat?" Ashley asked.

"Base," Anderson answered earning a nod from Ashley

"You won't have to," Udina growled. "I won't have the Council use your past with Saren to dismiss anything we come up with. Shepard will handle it,"

"You can't just cut the Captain out of this!" Shepard roared.

"No, Shepard, he's right," Anderson complied. "I need to step aside. My history with him could have some negative effects against us. And like you said commander, we only had words, nothing concrete,"

"I have some business to take care of," Udina informed the two soldiers. "Captain, meet me in my office later," the ambassador then walked off leaving the group there to talk.

"Harkins probably getting drunk at Chora's Den," Anderson said to Shepard once Udina outside of earshot.

"I thought you said he was a waste of time?" Kadian asked.

"Yes, but he might be able to help. Emphasis on 'might'," Anderson clarified.

"Maybe there's another way," Zenna suggested.

A thought then crossed Anderson's mind. "Try Barla Von in the Financial District. Rumour has it he's an agent for the Shadow Broker,"

"Shadow Broker?" Ash asked.

"An information dealer. Buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. I hear Barla Von is one of his top representatives. He might be able to help you, but his information likely won't come cheap," Anderson shrugged.

"Isn't anything cheap or easy these days?" Shepard sighed in annoyance as she thought. "Let's go to Harkin, if he's not cooperative I can always arrange a meeting with my muscles," she smiled and Anderson gave a slight smirk as well.

OOOOO

Walking into Cora's Den, Zenna looked around expecting to see Harkin but saw little. Dancers, both asari and human danced around poles above the bar and some patrons were having personal dances. As she walked, she noticed succubi dancing around as well. The wings, tail and horns were very noticeable as she moved around. She largely ignored them, but just moved on. Krogan was having a talk with another Korgan. Interested she edged closer.

"Back of Wrex," one of them said. "Fist told us to take care of you if you came here,"

"What's stopping you?" the other asked. "I'm standing right here,"

"This is your only warning Wrex, I'm not afraid to take you out,"

"I like to see you try," Wrex said before walking off.

'I wonder what's going on there,' Zenna thought before she noticed Harkin in front of a topless succubs dancer.

Walking up to him she looked to the dancer. "Take 5, me and your customer have something to discuss," she said with a hard tone.

The succubs was surprised but nodded and walked off. "Now why did you go and do that honey?" Harkin asked.

Shepard leaned in close the cop fangs baring. "If you don't want me to rip your arms off, tell me where Garrus is,"

"Now why…" he was about to say but Zenna grabbed his collar.

"Don't test me pal. I am not a person you want to be crossing today," she growled.

"Garrus? He was looking into the Saren case, right? That means Anderson. Tell me did he tell you his little secret?" he asked.

"Do you want to keep your balls?" she asked. "Where is Garrus?"

Harkin could only watch as she produces a pistol and point it at his dick. "Wait, ok, ok you win. Last I heard is that he was sniffing around Dr Michel office in the wards," he said quickly.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked before letting go and walking out.

OOOOO

Dr Michel's clinic wasn't the easiest place to find, but Zeena and her team soon found it. As they approached the three could hear voices inside and did not sound friendly. Shepard signalled the two to move to the sides of the door. They moved up, pistols in hand. Zenna walked up to the main door and hit the holo. The door opened up and three entered to see the doctor, a limia, being confronted by a pack of three huhounds. While Garrus was behind cover and was moving quietly around the corner in a crouched position.

"I sssswear I didn't sssssay anything to anyone!" the doctor said defensively.

"Good, and if that Turian comes back you'll still say nothing," he threatened before he saw Shepard enter through the doorway and grabbed the doctor to use as a hostage. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Let her go!" Zenna demanded aiming her pistol at the thug.

Seeing his chance, Garrus moved around and shot at the lead huhound in the head making him fall to the floor and making the others back up. Ashley and Kadian then moved up jumping though a window and fired at the huhounds who took cover. Zenna then followed them before charging in. One of the huhounds came out to fire at the wrong time and was crushed against the back wall by the 6ft minotaur.

The other two moved out of cover only to be shot down by Garrus and the other two huhounds.

"Perfect timing, Shepard," Garrus complimented walking over the doctor while Zenna walked over to him. "Doctor Michel are you hurt?" he asked.

"Jusssst a little sssshaken," she replied with a sigh

"Why were those men threatening you?" Shepard asked.

"They were ssssent by Fisssst," she answered. "They wanted me to keep quiet about a Quarian I patched up."

"Patched up?" the commander questioned with a raised brow. "How bad were her wounds?"

"It was a minor sssssuit puncture with a cut. I couldn't really tell where it came from. The ssssuit was repaired and I gave her some extra-sssstrength anti-bioticssss. Sssshe sssshould be okay, maybe a fever, but that'ssss about it. Sssshe wanted to trade information for ssssafety. Sssso I sent her to Fisssst,"

"What kind of info are we talking about?" Ashley asked.

"Sssomething to do with Ssssaren and the Geth. Sssshe wassss planning to sssssell the information to the Sssshadow broker in exchange for ssssafety. He'sss and agent for the Ssshadow broker,"

"Not anymore," Garrus then said. "Now he works for Saren,"

"Fissst betrayed the Sssshadow Breoker?" Michel asked in surprise. "That'sss ssstupid even for him,"

"Well looks like we need to talk to Fist," Zenna then said. "Before he can escape,"

"I agree commander it's the only way he can get out of this mess." Garrus then said. "But onto more important matters. I know this is your show Shepard, but I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you, he makes us Turians look bad,"

"I'll take all the help I can get, welcome aboard." Shepard welcomed and shook Garrus's hand.

"You know we are not the only ones after fist. The Shadow broker hired a Krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him down," Garrus added.

"A Krogan will be useful," Kadian added.

"I think I heard him threaten Fist in Cora's Den. Where can we find him?" Shepard then asked.

"At the C-sec academy we took him in for a talk, if we move now, we can catch him," the Turian answered.

"Let's go," John then ordered.

OOOOO

Shepard and his squad along with Garrus made their way down in the C-Sec Academy. Wrex immediately stood out among the crowd of people in the area. He was a scarred and wore a crimson-coloured armour. He was surrounded by three officers with one speaking to him face-to-face but judging by his tone he was not impressed.

"I mean it, Wrex," the officer warned. "Stay away from him,"

"I don't take orders from you," he growled in his deep voice.

"This is your only warning Krogan. Otherwise you will be arrested,"

"You should warn Fist. I will kill him,"

"Do you want me to arrest you?"

"I want you to try," he dared before he walked away.

Seeing the minotaur walking up to him Wrex got curious and apprehend. "Do I know you?"

"I'm Shepard," Zenna said. "I'm going after Fist, thought you'd like to come along,"

"Ahh Shepard, commander Shepard. I've heard a lot about you. I'll give you fair warning, I'm going to kill Fist,"

"Fist knows your coming," Garrus said. "We'll have a better chance if we worked together,"

"I'm trying to bring down Saren. You can help me in that matter," Zenna added

"Mmmm there is a saying among my people 'seek the enemy of my enemy and you will find a friend," Wrex said.

Shepard smiled and shook his hand. "We are going to get along just fine,"

OOOOO

The Squad now joined by Wrex then made their way to Cora's den. After a few minutes they reached their destination as they exited, they removed their weapons ready for a fight. As they approached Chora's Den where they were greeted by a couple of Turians.

"Assassins!" Ashley yelled and the group got into cover.

The team didn't have their armour with them, they only had portable shield emitters. They needed to be careful. Zenna took out per modified pistol and switched the setting to automatic. She, Ash and Kadian then popped out of cover and fired. Both marines fired single shot rounds at the assassins while the shock rounds took down the shields and stunned the assassins allowing Wrex and Garrus to take them out.

"They were expecting us they have the inside fortified," Wrex muttered.

They then moved to the entrance and as soon as it opened gunfire came through the door making the squad take cover.

"As soon as they stop firing move into cover," she then ordered. He then got a nod from the squad.

The firing then stopped and as soon as it did the squad moved through the door firing on the mercs that they could see. Shepard however ran up to the counter jumped on it then jumped on the platform and started taking out mercs from her vantage point. The shock rounds she used managed to stop most of the mercs in their tracks allowing the rest of the squad to finish them off with no trouble.

Once the last merc fell Zenna jumped down and approached the back door. The doors opened with two workers standing there petrified in fear.

"Don't come any closer," one of them warned.

"Warehouse workers," Ashley commented. "The real thugs must be gone."

"This might be a good time to find a new job," Shepard suggested.

"Y-Yeah," the other worker said.

"I never liked Fist any way," The two walked out of the room.

"Would have been quicker to just kill them," Wrex said.

"Violence isn't always the answer," Garrus replied.

They went through the final door to Fist's office. As they moved in two turrets activated as soon as they entered the room. Shepard pulled up her omni-tool and activated an overload but that did little forcing the team to get into cover. Grunting Zenna then switched to another setting on her pistol. She exited cover and fired. One round impacted one of the turrets foring it to shut down before it over heated. The others the fired at the final turret taking it down allowing Shepard to run up to first with her squad behind her. Fist fired several rounds at Zenna took.

Before he knew it, Fist was starring Zenna in the eyes. Then he found himself on the floor with a pistol in his face.

"Where's the Quarian?" She demanded.

"I-I don't know!" he answered in a distressed tone. "That's the truth,"

"He's useless to us," Wrex grumbled. "Let me kill him."

"Wait!" Fist pleaded while standing up but with guns still pointed at him. "I don't know where she is, but I know she will be. I set up a meeting for her. Told her she would meet the Shadow Broker himself,"

"Face-to-face?" Wrex muttered with a surprise. "Impossible. Even I was hired through an agent,"

"No one ever meets the Shadow Broker. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. When she shows up for the meeting, it'll be Saren's men who will be waiting for her there."

Zenna then grabbed Fist by the collar pushed him on the wall closely while aiming her pistol at his head. "Tell me the time and place of the meeting and I won't shoot,"

"The back alley of the Wards near here. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry," Shepard nodded and let him go before backing up

But before Fist could relax, he saw Wrex aim his shotgun.

"Wait! You said-" be for he could finish his head blew off from the shotgun.

"I never said anything about Wrex shooting you," Shepard said in a cold tone before running out the door.

OOOOO

In a side ally in the wards, Tali waited for the contact to arrive. She was hesitant at best, but anyone would be if they knew that a Spectre was on them, they'd likely do the same. She sighed as she waited. A turian began to approach her.

"Where's the Shadow broker?" she asked as she also approach him. "Where's fist?"

"They'll be here," he said though her arm. "Where's the evidence?"

She slapped his hand away, "No, deals off," she said making the turian back up and two salarians bring up their weapons.

She threw a grenade before running into cover cursing herself for being too trusting. Before she could do anything, something whizzed past her at speed. Looking outside of her cover she noticed a minotaur holding up the turian who threated her. She had never even seen one before and looked on with fascination as she cracked the turians neck before throwing the body at the two salarians.

The body knocked them down before she drew her pistol and burst fire shot at them. Killing them outright. "It's alright," she then called in Tali's direction while holstering her pistol.

"Fist set me up," Tali said in annoyance as she came out of cover and approached the minotaur. "I knew I could not trust him,"

"I do not work for fist anyway he's dead," she said in a calm tone as she was joined by four others.

"Well now I have two things to thank you for. Who are you?" Tali said in a thankful tone, but still on guard.

"Commander Shepard yours?" the minotaur asked

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," She said as she tried to apologize.

"Pleasure do you have information about Saren?"

"Yes, I do but it is best if I show you somewhere safe."

"We should take her to the Human embassy," one of the huhounds suggested.

OOOOO

Shepard and her group, excluding Garrus and Wrex entered Udina's office. The ambassador was facing away as they entered but he sensed them walk in. He shook his head disapprovingly.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the Wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-" Udina looked to Tali a bit taken aback by the non-human presence. "Who's this? A Quarian? What are you up to Shepard?"

"Miss Zorah here has evidence to implicate Saren in the Eden Prime attack," Shepard answered, "Which I would have said if you didn't bite my head off,"

"Really? Maybe we should start at the beginning. Miss…" Udina started.

"Tali, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," she answered.

"Why did you leave the Flotilla?"

"My Pilgrimage. It's my people's rite of passage into adulthood,"

"What happened?" Shepard asked.

"Well, I heard rumours that the Geth were leaving the Perseus Veil. I was curious as to why. I tracked a patrol of Geth to an uncharted world. I waited until one left the group. I attacked, disabled it and then I took its memory core,"

"I thought that the Geth fried their memory cores when they died," Anderson pointed out. "Some kind of defence mechanism."

"That's true," Tali confirmed. "But if you're fast enough and lucky you can get some useful data. Most of the core was frayed but I was able to extract some audio files," she then pulled up her omni-tool and play the file.

"Eden Prime was a major victory," Saren's distorted voice said. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit,"

"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson exclaimed. "This proves he was involved in the attack,"

"The Conduit?" Shepard said. "Sound's familiar what is it?"

"I'm not sure, but there's more to the file," Tali answered before playing the recording again.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit," another voice, a female one the replaced Saren's. "And one step closer to bringing back the Reapers,"

"I don't recognize that voice," Udina said. "The one speaking of the Reapers."

"I do," Shepard then said making everyone look at her. "Not the voice, the name: Reapers,"

"You do?" Anderson asked.

"Remember when I was talking about machine in my vision," she added.

"Yes, but still does not explain everything,"

"If the vision serves me right the Reapers are a race of sentient machines. They've repeated a cycle of extinction for god knows how long. It's possible that the Protheans were wiped out by them,"

"That sounds a little far-fetched," Udina said dismissively.

"Never said it was true," Zenna shot. "I'm guessing,"

"The Geth memory core said the exact same thing!" Tali said in a surprised voice. "The Geth worship these advance machines. They see them as the pinnacle of non-organic life,"

"The Council is going to love this," Udina grumbled.

"True but we can't fully dismiss it until there is no other explanation," Shepard said.

"Regardless of what the Council thinks, these audio files prove that Saren is a traitor," Anderson concluded.

"The Captain's right," Udina agreed. "We need to present this to the Council right away,"

"What about her?" Kadin asked while nodding to Tali.

"My name is Tali!" she scolded. "You saw how I handle myself in the alley. Let me come with you,"

"But what about your Pilgrimage?" Shepard asked concerned about her traditions.

"It can wait plus I can go anywhere,"

"I'd be a fool not to accept your help,"

"Thank you, Commander," Tali said. "You won't regret this"

"Anderson and I will get things set up with the Council," Udina said. "Meet us at the tower,"

OOOOO

Shepard and Anderson walked out onto the platform while the audio file played for all to hear. Udina had a smug look on his face.

"You wanted evidence? There it is!" he shot with satisfaction.

"This evidence is irrefutable," Sparatus replied. "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in,"

"I recognize that other voice," Trevos added. "It's Matriarch Benezia,"

"Who's she?" Shepard asked.

"A powerful biotic with many followers. She would make a formidable ally for Saren," she said with concern in her voice

"I'm more interested in the Reapers," the Valarn said. "What do you know about them?"

"Only what the Geth memory core and Shepard's vision said," Anderson answered. "They were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans and then they vanished,"

"The Geth worship them as gods and the Conduit is the way to bring them back," Shepard added.

"Do we know what the Conduit is?" Valan asked interested.

"Just that it can bring back the Reapers," Shepard replied. "Plus, the Reapers fits with the Prothean visions I had,"

"Listen to what you're saying!" Sparatus scoffed. "An ancient race of machines that wiped out all life. Impossible. Has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no evidence of them? If they were real, we would have found something?"

"I tried to warn you about Saren and you refused to see the truth," Shepard pointed out. "Don't make the same mistake."

"This is different," Trevos defended. "You presented us with evidence to prove Saren's guilt. We all agree that he and the Geth are looking for the Conduit, but we really don't know why,"

"The Reapers are obviously a myth, Commander," Valern agreed. "A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he used to bend the Geth to his will,"

"Forgive me if I'm not as doubtful as you," Zenna shot.

"Don't be ridiculous Commander," the Turian scolded.

"As a minotaur I don't leave anything to chance," she stated.

"And your explanation is a race of sentient machines that no one has ever heard of."

"Please," the Asari pleaded to bring order back. "This is getting us nowhere,"

"I agree," the Turian said. "As of now Saren is a rogue agent on the run. He doesn't have the resources of the Spectres,"

"That is not good enough!" Udina yelled. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"

"A fleet cannot track down one man, Ambassador," Valern advised.

"The Citadel fleet could secure the region. To keep the Geth from attacking anymore of our colonies," Udina said with aggression.

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus system," the Turian scolded. "We will not be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen Human colonies,"

"Send me after him," Shepard interrupted.

"No, it's too soon!" Sparatus roared.

"And what would you propose?" Zenna shot. "The Council doesn't have to send a fleet and the Ambassador gets his Spectre. Everyone's happy,"

Trevos and Valern looked to Sapratus with a look that he knew all t well. The Turian sighed in annoyance before the three tapped into their consoles.

"Commander Shepard, please step forward," the Asari said.

Shepard looked to Anderson who smiled and nodded. Zenna took a few steps forward attracting a crowd. They had seen this before, but this time it was happening to a human, for the first time. They were witnessing history.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," Trevos started the speech

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen," Valern continued. "Individuals forged in the fires of service and battle. Those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal. A symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council. Instruments of our will," Trevos added.

"Spectres bear a great burden," the Turian continued in the third section of the creed. "They are protectors of galactic peace. Both our first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold,"

"You are the first Human Spectre, Commander," Trevos reminded. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your species,"

"I'm truly honoured, Councillor," the Commander said bowing her head

"We are sending you into the Traverse after Saren," Valern informed. "You are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"I will bring him to justice," Shepard said

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," Trevos concluded.

Shepard turned to the group to see most of them smiling. Anderson approached her and reached out a hand which she shook.

"Congratulations, Commander," he said

"We have a lot of work to do Shepard," Udina said. "You're going to need a ship, crew, supplies..."

"You'll get access to special gear and training. You should head down to C-Sec academy and speak with the Spectre Requisition officer," Anderson added

"Anderson! Come with me! I'll need your help to set all this up,"

The Ambassador and Captain both left in a hurry.

"You'd think the Ambassador would be more thankful," Ashley commented.

"Until I've caught Saren, I haven't done anything yet," Shepard replied. "Let's go and make history,"

OOOOO

Codes:

Succubus:

A unique demi human, a Succubus is a female only demi human with a heighted sexual apatite. The are noticeable due to their bat like wings, demonic like horns and tail. However, the wings serve little to no purpose and are vestigial.

While Succubi are sexually charged, they are also masters of deception, information gathering and more. Outside of dancing and being companions in bed, they are used as spies by militaries. They don't have a good reputation due to their appetites.

Lamia/ Naga:

Commonly known as 'snake people' Lamia are mostly female. While there are males, they tend to be in low numbers but large enough to keep the species going. With the top half being that of a human, and the lower being a snake they are classed as 'human reptiles'. A category of demi-humans with reptilian features.

Lamia are clam, cool and collective and one of the more populous demi-humans around. They are mostly seen as doctors, teachers and politicians but their combat prowess is not to be scoffed at. Mostly ambush attackers, they don't use guns often but instead they use their coils and venom to take down their opponents.

Most Lamia have venom sacs in their jaws to deliver it. In order to counter this, they have to take daily injections to remove the poison from their sacs. Removal of it however affects their health in a negative way however and it's not recommended, unless necessary. An interesting aspect of the sac however is that the venom can be converted into something akin to medi-gel, but this is an expensive procedure and is only given to doctors.

**Hi guys, ok before you click off, I need to ask you something. So recently I had to cancel Trapped in 40K, this opens me up for a new project. I already have one up, but no one seems interested (Hearts of iron: world in flames) so these are the ideas I have. **

**Halo/ Star Wars/ Korra/ Overwatch Warlord: Similar to ME Warlord, but set in one of the respective universes. **

**Gate+ EDF: a crossover between Gate and Earth defence force in which a gate appears in the EDF universe. **

**Stellaris: Project seed: following a bounty hunter and crew as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens the galaxy.**

**KAMB: A Korra and RWBY crossover.**

**Nation of dogs: A remake of my nation of dogs MGS story**

**Fable: A lose novelisation that takes place over the three games with three different seasons starting from the original fable. **

**The one that has the most votes after 2 weeks will get written**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys, ok so this is the last chapter for this year. As for the new project, Nation of Dogs is getting a remake. However, as I said in that announcement chapter, if the follows/ faves doesn't go over 40-50 then I'm likely to abandon it. In which case I would like to ask you all a second choice if NOD fails. **

**Other than that merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and see you next year!**

The Normandy was busy as mechs loaded crates of food and supplies on the ship while Zenna finished filling out the requisition forms for them. Being a spectre, meant that you could practically get whatever you want, within reason, and use it for their missions. Anderson and Udina, had set all of this up for her to use, and while she was pleased with it, she wasn't happy with all the red tape involved. After singing her name on the final form the doc worker said is thanks before walking off.

Shepard didn't even have time to catch her breath as Anderson and Udina walked up.

"Commander, we have the supply saturation sorted you should be able to be stocked up for a good three weeks," Anderson said with a smile.

"Good to hear," Zenna said before her mind drifted. "Ahhhh meattttt," she moaned and drooled as she thought of devouring a large fired ham joint.

"Yes well," Udina interrupted her train of thought. "We have some information about Matriarch Benezia, apparently she has a daughter. Dr Liara T'soni. She's a scientist who specializes in the Protheans. The information is questionable but she's somewhere in the Artemis Tau Cluster,"

"It sounds like a good idea to find her first," Shepard commented. "She may hold valuable Intel. Or at least be able to catch her mother off guard,"

"The choice is yours from here, Shepard; you don't answer to us anymore," the captain reminded.

"But remember that your actions reflect Humanity as a whole," Udina warned. "You make a mess and I get stuck cleaning it up,"

"I'll try not to make things harder for you," said in a sarcastic tone that the ambassador failed to pick up on.

"That's good to hear,"

"Good luck in your mission, Commander," Anderson then said shaking Zenna's hands before the two left.

Taking in a deep sigh she walked over to Joker. "We all set?" she asked looking over his shoulder.

"Yep, all our supplies are stored and systems are in check," he replied. "We're all set,"

"Good, set course for the Artemis Tau cluster. Start scanning the planets by size and habitability. We need to find one that could or can support life," she ordered.

"Will do commander," Joker replied and started up the engines.

"How long will that take?" she asked.

"Well, that's four systems with 19 planets between them," he began to calculate. "About 3 to 4 days, depending on the weather,"

"Sounds good to me, carry on," she said before walking off.

As she made her way into the CIC Kadian walked up next to her. "Commander," he said as he held up a tablet. "We managed to find places for out new team mates and food for them. But Tali seems a little, uncomfortable with Adams,"

"Slime?" she asked guessing what the problem could be but Kadian shook his head.

"The machine part of him," he responded making Zenna nodded.

"I'll go talk to her," she said making Kadian nod. "Anything else?"

"No commander, that's about it," he confirmed.

"Ok, continue," she said and the two broke off their conversation and she made her way to the lift.

As she did so her head began to ache once again. A thundering pain in her head that wouldn't go away, she pulled out a tub of tablets. Opening it she popped it into her mouth and swallowed. It would take the edge off, but not much. The lift door opened and she exited before rounding to the door next to the lift that lead to the engine room. Tali was working at one of the terminals but was taking sideways glances at Adams who was already at work.

Zenna walked up to the Quarrian. "Tali, I hear that you are unsettled," she said getting her attention.

"Commander," she said in slight surprise. "I wasn't expecting you,"

"Well, if my crew is having problems I'd like to know and try and sort it out," Zenna replied. "I heard from Kadian that you had problems,"

"It's just…" she trailed off looking at Adams. "… I didn't expect to see a slime here, let alone one with skeletal frames," she admitted.

Chief engineer Adams overheard and took a slight glance in their direction. This wasn't the first time he had problems. Adams was a blue slime, a collection of microbial cells controlled by a central nucleus. Slimes don't have a form that they can sustain for too long, so they use a skeletal frame that helps bind their mass together into a humanoid form. The device is attached to their nucleus so that they can control it and use it to talk.

But slimes had a bit of a reputation for being jokers and general annoyances. Adams, however, wanted to change that perception. Being a slime, he had the unique ability to get into places where no one could and fix any problems that the ship had that people couldn't see or get to. He was good at it too. Many slimes shared his ideas, and were doing their best to try and change the general perspective. But it was easier said than done given the general perspective.

"I assume that it's due to the geth?" Adams asked in a synthesized male voice catching Tali off guard. "Don't worry, I understand the problem but think of me as… a cyborg. Or with cybernetics, at my core I'm still human. You don't need to worry," he smiled before turning back to work.

That made the Quarrian feel guilty about her prejudices and assumptions. She looked down apologetically.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I'm just not used to serving on human ship. Seeing all the other demi-humans, it's quite unnerving,"

"I'll bet. A lot of non-humans are a little weirded out by serving on human ships due to the different demi-human types," Zenna said rubbing the back of her neck. "We humans are a very diverse lot, and that tend to complicate matters with the other races,"

"Yeah I see that now," Tali said with a smile. "I'll try to keep and open mind,"

"Good to hear," the commander said. "If you have any problems, just come to me and I'll try to get it sorted,"

"Thank you, commander, I should get back to work," she said with the commander nodding and walking off.

OOOOO

About 3 days upon reaching Artemis Tau, they managed to find a Geth signal on one of the worlds. Therum, a wasteland of geothermal activity. According to intelligence, the planet had a small mining colony with outposts set a good distance apart from each other. Intel also showed a Prothean ruin at a mining site, and with the scans that was where most of the Geth activity was.

Picking out Ashley and Garrus for this mission, Zenna took the Mako and make it to the ruin quickly. Eventually they reached a bottleneck that forced the squad to move forward on foot. Going through they ran into a small patrol of Geth. Despite being spotted by Geth earlier in the Mako, this group didn't seem to be aware of them or were plotting an ambush.

"Something doesn't smell right," Ashley said and Zenna just nodded.

"I hate the fact that you can smell that," Garrus muttered.

"If it's any help, the ash in the air is blocking some of our senses," Ashley said as she took up a position behind a group of rocks with her assault rifle ready.

Shaking his head Garrus moved to the opposite side and readied his sniper rifle. Zenna however reminded at her position and drew her custom pistol. Unlike standard issue predators, this one was more along the lines of two predators slapped together. While it still had one barrel, the extra parts were there to allow it do all the features Zenna made the pistol for. Auto-fire, rapid ammo type selection and more. The problem was, it would overhead quickly and replacement parts were not available through normal military channels.

She had to use local weapon deals to get the parts she needed. But the weapon she used proved to be more than worth it's weight in gold. Switching to disrupter rounds she took aim and fired. The rapid fire of her weapon mixed with the electrified rounds took the first geth down quickly and with ease. As soon as it fell, Garrus and Ashley began to open fire. Guessing that they had been rumbled, the geth who waited in ambush moved out of cover and began to fire at the team.

Despite the geth intelligence, the team managed to outflank them and take the squad out before regrouping and moving onwards. They soon reached a large wide section that lead to the mine. They didn't take another step instead they took cover.

"It's a sniper alley. They are just waiting for us." Shepard said absentmindedly.

She didn't need to say it, it was pretty clear what it was to them. It was just a human trait to state the obvious. Garrus would never understand this trait, but he knew he would have to deal with it.

"What do you think?" Zenna then asked as she turned to Ash. "Think you can be bait?"

Ashley's ears twitched slightly as she looked over the at the clearing. It was a good wide-open area, a good pace to run in. Garrus however didn't understand what the two were on about. But the marine soon nodded.

"Yeah, I can be the bait," she said holstering her weapon.

"What's going on?" Garrus asked.

"It's a common tactic to use huhounds as a distraction for snipers," Ashley said. "We move very fast and are a hard target to it," with that she prepared to jump and run.

"Wait," Garrus said as his mind buzzed. "I remember stories about this, Turian snipers couldn't get a kill on fast ground units. You're saying that those units were huhounds?"

"Yep," the marine said before jumping out and ran.

"Wish I had thrown a bone," Zenna moaned before she and Garrus began to take out the snips who were zeroed in on Ashley.

While he was focused on the snipers, Garrus watched as Ashely moved at speed dogging sniper fire. Watching her, he knew why the Turians lost First contact. They were up against an alien race who had multiple sub species who brought their advantages with them. The Turians didn't know what they were facing or how to deal with it. Even with time, he doubts that anyone could counter humans.

After dogging and moving with speed Ash stopped and looked around. The geth were down so she re-joined the rest of the team while Zenna checked her omni tool for the map.

"According to the layout of the area, the entrance to the ruins should be just up the hill," she said as she closed the map.

The two nodded and moved up the hill towards the compound. The abandoned station was in front of the ruin but something felt off. Zenna and Ashley scanned the area for any movement. Their instincts were screaming at them, this was a trap. Before they could do anything, a whirring noise met their ears. At that moment Geth hoppers dropped from a scaffold and bounced getting into sniping positions while a dropship flew by dropping troops and an armature.

"You have got to be kidding. Take cover!" Shepard yelled jumping behind a crate.

Garrus moved to a position for better cover to take them out with his sniper rifle while Ashley fired and moved. The Armature fired a blast at their location. The cover protected them, but the blast caused them to lose their hearing briefly. Ashley yelled in pain as he ringing echoed in her ears. Hearing was a problem for noise sensitive demi-humans like her.

"Aim for the eye!" Zenna yelled as she pulled out her shotgun.

This weapon, must like her pistol, was custom made. The large casing of the weapon showed what she did with it. This wasn't a shotgun; this was a punt gun. Switching to the explosive setting she fired. High explosive rounds flew though the air hitting the four-legged machine making it stagger. She then pulled the pump back injecting coolant into the weapon allowing to cool fast before she fired again.

A hopper then landed near her and fired a her. The impact took out her shields and made her stumble into the sight of the armature. The machine fired at her but her chimera DNA kicked in and she moved faster than a minotaur could move. Garrus just blinked, one Zenna was in one position but then the next she moved to the side. Her size, her muscles, her armour, everything about her screamed that she couldn't move fast. But she did and avoided the blast that the Armature fired at her.

Shaking his head, he aimed and fired at the hopper that tried to take her down. One shot to the spotlight took the machine down with ease. Zenna fired one more shot from her shotgun and took the four-legged machine down. The final hopper then tried to pounce on Shepard was stopped in mid air by Ashley who ripped his guts out before spitting out the metal innards.

A she got up Garrus joined them. "Remind me not to piss the two of you off," he said making them smile before they headed into the mine.

OOOOO

Trevos walked into Anderson's office with a datapad in hand. The captain wasn't expecting her to walk in but hid it well.

"Councillor," he greeted standing, "I wasn't expecting you,"

"While I would have alerted you, I would like to ask a few questions about the commander," she said taking a seat.

"Can I get you some tea or coffee?" he asked as he walked over to the kettle.

"Tea please, coffee is a little too strong for my liking," Anderson nodded and poured one coffee and one tea before walking back to his desk and sat down with the councillor. "Thank you," she said as she took a sip and gave a satisfied sigh.

"So, what would you like to know?" he asked with a smile.

"Well, the council has decided that if a Spectre is accused of going rouge, all of their activities should be known," she said. "Because of this, we are looking into the commander's history and noticed some black lines," she opened the page of the commanders file and showed the captain. "Is there anything you want to tell us?"

Furrowing his brow Anderson picked up the pad and looked at it. There were indeed black lines covering parts of the commander's profile. As he looked down, he noticed a watermark, Sec 31. A special branch of Alliance intel. Everyone knew about them, but no one knew what they did. But next to it was an icon he didn't recognise. He shook his head and looked to the politician.

"I'm sorry but I cannot help you, the watermark is by Sec 31, Alliance intelligence's highest branch of intel. Whatever they covered up, it must be big," he said pushing the pad back to her. "This is one area, that is best left alone,"

"Is that a threat?" she asked.

"No, a warning. Anyone who looks into Sec 31 doesn't return," he said making the eyes of the asari widen slightly. "We all have our secrets councillor, some of them are best remined berried,"

OOOOO

The Prothean ruin seemed like a space station that was made out an asteroid. But thankfully there was a small Geth presence that made itself known as the squad moved down two levels. It seemed that they didn't expect anyone to make it but left the odd trooper behind. As shtye moved further down they then found a blue forcefield with an Asari surrounded by some form of blue energy.

"Oh, thank the goddess!" she exclaimed. "Someone who isn't Geth. Are-Are you here to get me out of here?"

Shepard walked up to the blue barrier looking around as she tried to figure out how to disable it. "Yes," she replied. "Thing is though, your mother is working for a rogue Spectre. Saren Arterius. What is your role in this situation?"

"I- What?" she muttered but from the look in her eyes it seemed that she was stuck there for a time and low on energy. "I haven't spoken to my mother in years,"

It sounded like there was some truth to the words, but Zenna wasn't sure. She needed to get the Asari back to the Normandy and find out. "Is there a way past this energy field?"

"I don't know," she answered. The Geth have been trying to get through for a while now. I'm not sure there is a way,"

Zenna nodded. "We'll figure something out,"

"I'll be right here," she said in a joking tone.

Shepard and the squad moved down to the ground floor and looked around on alert in case of an ambush. As they moved forward Garrus noticed a large machine. Walking up to it he examined it.

"Commander an energy drill," he yelled as she looked at the machine.

"Good we can use it to make a way to T'Soni." Zenna said as she moved up and began to look at it. "Not good," she muttered as she opened up several panels.

"Something wrong?" Ashley asked as she joined the two.

"Yeah," the minotaur as she looked at the controls, wires and circuits. "Some of the circuits are fired, others are fused. I need to bypass it. It's all combat damage and overheating, someone tied to use this thing without knowing how it works,"

Just then trademark stuttering sound of the Geth met their ears. The team looked to each other with a knowing look.

"Cover fire while get the drill working," Zenna then ordered.

The team nodded and took up cover fire positions while Shepard got to work on trying to bypass the main systems. It was tricky as she was shot at but her mind focused on the bypass. This sort of thing was her bread and butter. Aukze came to mind as she worked, those Threasher maws killing her squad with no evac for at least 2 weeks. She worked hard to survive in that killer environment. This was no different, as she rewired the drill as fast as possible. If Threashers couldn't distract her from her work, the neither could the geth.

'Come on...come on... got it!' the laser roared to life and blasted a hole under the barrier curtain. "YES! I'll lay down cover go through the hole," she yelled as she grabbed her assault rifle and began to fire.

The cover fire allowed squad fall back into the hole as the Geth advanced and fired on their position. The hole led to an internal elevator but Zenna stopped before they got on and threw three high explosive grenades at the hole sealing it off.

"That should buy us some time," she said before walking onto the lift and activating it.

The lift moved up one level that made it so that they were behind Liara who glanced back as best she could give her position. "How did you get up here?"

"We used a mining laser to create an alternate route," Shepard answered.

"Yes, of course. That console should free me," she said nodding to a console.

Zenna approached the console and typed in a few commands. The energy field dissipated letting Liara to drop to the ground.

The commander then walked over to her and helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," she muttered but just then the area shook making them all fall down.

"What the hell was that?" Garrus asked out loud looking around before he got up with the rest of the team.

"That mining laser must have destabilized the ruins," Zenna replied mentally kicking herself before opened the comm link. "Joker, lock onto our position. We need evacuation ASAP,"

"Aye, aye Commander," Joker confirmed over the comm.

Shepard and the team then moved as fast as they could to the elevator and hit the controls. The ruins rumbled as the elevator rose making it hard for the team to keep their balance. As they reached the top, they were greeted by a Krogan warlord and several Geth. Immediately Ashley and Garrus grabbed their weapons.

"Hand over the Asari or don't that would be more fun," the warlord said cocking his shotgun

"This place is falling apart and you're trying to stop us?" Zenna asked as she drew her pistol.

"Makes the fight more interesting," the Korgan laughed.

"Yes, it does," Shepard said before firing her pistol at the Korgan making him take cover from the unexpected attack. "I've got the Krogan. Garrus keep an eye on T'Soni! Ash, time to play fetch,"

Garrus then grabbed Liara's arm and pulled her behind a pillar. "You know how to use those biotics?" he asked with he nodding. "Don't be afrid to use them," he said before taking aim and firing at the geth.

Liara took a deep breath and threw a singularity at a group of geth taking shots at them. Two exploded but one still fired. Before she could do anything else, she watched with fascination and shock as Ashley tore into the geth ripping its arm off before unloading several rounds into its head. This was the first time she had seen demi-humans in combat and was surprised by their tactics.

Shepard charged at the warlord and was about to punch him. But warlord moved too quickly making the attack useless but Zenna recovered and fired a few rounds into him. In return he shot at her with his shotgun taking out her shields. She moved in fast and slammed her fist onto his head making him stagger back. She followed with a kick to the back but he turned and fired at her. Again, her DNA kicked in moved out of the way fast, but not fast enough as part of the slugs that the shotgun fired entered her arm.

As she winced in pain as blood flowed from the wound while the Krogan recovered and charged at Shepard. He managed to tackle the minotaur in a wall and slammed his fist into her but she managed to kick him in the gut knocking him back. The Krogan then roared as he then tired to headbutt her, but this time she managed to move out of the way before she finished him off with a shotgun blast that bypassed his shields. He fell in a slump against the wall.

Zenna looked to his squad and around seeing that all of the geth had been taken out, "Move it!" she then

The squad ran down the walkways as they made their way to the mine's entrance. Rocks were falling all over the place. John made sure everyone was escaping. One rock fell near Ashley and Liara.

Ashley pushed the Asari out of the way as she fell. Liara got to her feet as fast as she could and ran out while the huhound moved as fast as she could as well. They just managed to leaving the mine just as it collapsed. The Normandy was just above them.

OOOOO

Everyone was gathered in the briefing room ready to make a report and discuss their plans for the next mission. But the pilot wasn't too impressed with the way the Normandy was almost eaten by the lava.

"Too close, Commander," Joker scolded. "Ten more seconds we would be swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in active volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull,"

"We almost die out there and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara questioned being upset about the whole situation.

"Joker pulled us out of there," Shepard said. "He's earned the right to a few jokes. As long as he doesn't push it,"

"Must be a Human thing," she muttered. "I'm not used to dealing with your race, Commander let alone your subspecies," that made the few humans in the room wince. "Did I say something?" she asked worried about insulting her saviours.

"We don't use the term subspecies," Kadian advised. "It's largely insulting to us, we prefer the term demi-human,"

"Oh, sorry," she quickly apologised, "Though thank you for saving my life down there. Not just from the volcano, but against the Geth,"

"What did Saren want with you?" Ashley inquired. "Do you know something about the Conduit?"

"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction." She said thinking about what she knew. "That is my area of expertise. I've spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what's happen to them,"

"I think I know what happened to them," Zenna commented as she rubbed her bandaged arm.

"Commander, I have heard every theory there is, the problem is finding evidence to explain what happened. The Protheans left little behind. It was like someone wiped away all evidence of what happened. Now here's the incredible part. According to my findings the Protheans were not the first Galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. This cycle of extinction has begun long before them," Liara explained with some hint of offence.

Part of what she said caught Zenna's attention. "If they weren't the first... Who were?" she asked.

"I don't know. There is little information on the Protheans and even less on those before them," she explained knowing how doubtful this seemed.

"Yes, from what I've been able to understand there was something that happened I am sure of my theory of the cycle of extinction. Every generation of life advance to a point and is then violently struck down. I have dedicated my life to finding out why,"

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines, the Reapers," Shepard answered rubbing her head as her memories came back.

"T-The Reapers? But I've never heard of- How do you know this? What evidence do you have?" Liara asked as her mind began to buzz with the implications of this revelation.

"We ran into a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime and it implanted a vision into my head. I'm still trying to sort it all out," Zenna answered as the headache came in full force.

"Visions? Of course. Those beacons would be designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. No wonder the Geth attacked Eden Prime. A working beacon, even a badly damaged one, would have been worth any cost to get. But they were made to interact with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I am amazed that you can make any sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed..." she tailed off with an idea coming to mind and she stood. "Commander, I have an idea. We asari have the ability to join minds, to see the memories of people, if I can mind meld with you, I'm sure we can see more,"

Zenna nodded and walked to the middle of the room. "Well let's try at least, we have nothing better to go on,"

"Wait," Ashley then said, "How do we know we can trust you and not fry the commander's brain?"

"If she could kill us, she would have already done so," the minotaur scolded before looking at the Asari. "Ok let's go for it,"

Liara nodded and approached. "Relax commander, clear your mind and embrace eternity!" her eyes turned black as they began to share their minds.

Death, machines, the prothean extinction filled both of their minds as Liara's mind meld did its work. But soon those images stopped, replaced by a small minotaur, tortured, experimented upon. Screams of pain and torment filled both of their minds. Suddenly a loud siren like screak broke the meld. Liara backed up from the disconnect. She fell into Garrus to grabbed her while all eyes where on Zenna.

"NO! PLEASE NO!" she shrieked grabbing her head.

"Commander!" Kadian yelled as he stood along with Ashley but they were pushed away.

"NO! PLEASE! NOT THE INJECTIONS PLEASE! NO!" she continued to yell while Kadain sent a message to Chackwas. "DON'T HURT ME PLEASE!"

Ashley then moved up to Liara and grabbed her by the collar, "What did you do to her?" she practically yelled.

"I don't know," she said in response terrified.

The commander stopped screaming before collapsing curing up into a ball muttering to herself. Ashley let go of Liara as Chackwas moved into the room fast. The room fell silent as the Lamia moved up to the commander. She picked her up and used her tail as a makeshift bed examining the minotaur. Her mind racing as to how tis could have happened

"What happened?" she asked not looking away from the commander.

"I tried to mind meld with the commander," Liara said standing up. "To see what she saw from the prothean beacon," she was panicked, in her mind this would affect her credibility with the humans

Chackwas nodded as she then scanned the commander. The silence was so thick that you could cut it with a knife as the team watched as the doctor worked her magic. After what left like an age the doctor she sighed and close her omni-tool.

"The commander is unconscious," the doctor finally said. "The stress of her memories coming back had just knocked her out,"

"Memories?" Wrex asked. "They must be quite bad to do something like this,"

"When she was younger, she was experimented upon by and anti-demi-human group," Chackwas explained. "The experimentation was traumatic to the point that she had to see multiple physiatrists a day to get her to a good mental state. I think she also saw a hypnotherapist to hide most of the memories. But this was likely done by the mind meld itself. In order to meld with another an asari must attune their nervous system to make it easier to see their memories. But because the commander is a Chimera, he altered DNA created a unique nervous frequency that countered Liara's. But because it seemed like an attack, but wasn't it requested signals from her mind to figure out what happened and brought back her memories,"

"So, I did cause it," Liara said as guilt filled her.

"You couldn't have known what would happen," Chackwas defended. "This was something that we couldn't foresee,"

"How long will she be out?" Tali asked with concern.

"A week maybe more, but I get the feeling that we may need that mind melding ability of yours…" Chackwas said looking towards Liara. "… maybe necessary for the mission at hand,"

"So, what do we do?" Garrus asked eager to help.

"That's where the problem comes in," the doctor sighed. "The commander is a Chimera: they are not a natural product. They are a result of trying to remove the bacterium from demi-humans to turn them back to baseline humans. However, the bacterium, being reactivated, sees this as an attack and activates causing more change to the DNA in defence. If I want to retune her nervous system to be normal, I need the research on her. But that was destroyed due to the Human protection Act,"

The room fell silent but Kadian then remembered something. The commander occasionally talked in her sleep. What she said, it was a longshot but at the moment they had little choice.

"I think I know who might have done it," he then said. "It's a long-shot, they are rumoured to be little more then myth,"

Ash and Chackwas looked to him while the non-humans looked at him confused.

"Them?" Ashley asked in confusion and surprise. "But they don't exist,"

"It's better than nothing, plus when she talks in her sleep she always mutters 'protect' or foundation," he countered. "There is no other group who uses words like those,"

"But even if you are right…" Chackwas muttered.

"We have nothing else to go on," Kadain insisted. "This is the best we have," that made her nod.

"Ok for all of those who are not human here," Tali then interrupted. "Who or what are you talking about?"

"The people who experimented on the commander, and who likely have records of her experimentation, is the SCP Foundation," the huhoud said.

OOOOO

Codex:

Slimes:

Slimes are a long lived demi-human species. Similar to jellyfish, slimes are made out of a similar like substance with a central nucleus which controls the movement of the slime. Coming in many colours, green and blue are the most common while ones like red and purple are rare. Due to how they are made up, they are incredibly hard to kill unless someone takes out the nucleus. But due to the lack of form they have, it makes them next to useless as soldiers.

Because they have little to no form, they use something like a suit of armour or something similar to hold that form together. In modern times they use a skeletal frame that holds their form to something similar to that of a human. These frames have an in-built translation system as they have no vocal cords but they can vibrate as a way of communication.

Mischievous, they like to play pranks on others and are normally employed as clowns or jokers at fairs or circuses. But most are trying to counter this image by working in many fields such as doctor or engineer. In terms of combat, slimes make poor soldiers but good ambush attackers as they can alter the makeup of their slime into something acidic.

One particular tactic used is 'slime bombs', this is when three or more slimes are loaded into a bomb before being dropped on the enemy to cause havoc with their troops, weapons and systems. This was one of the main reasons why the turians lost the war as they couldn't find an effective countermeasure to slimes.

Human protection Act:

After the second world war and the atrocities uncovered, questions began to arise about the use of experimentation of demi-humans. Hitler had ordered demi-humans to be exterminated along with all the undesirables, the only exception to this was the huhounds. During this time, many Chimera's were made in an attempt to remove the bacterium form the human genome. But after the war and all of this came to light, the world was shocked.

As such the Human protection Act was born in 1949 to ensure that something similar could never happen again. From then on, removal, experimentation or alteration of the bacterium was outlawed without approval from the heads of a global medical institution and the head of state of which it is to take place.

In modern times, three signatures from the Alliance medical council and the president have to sign before any experiment can be done. Any unauthorised experimentation leads to life in prison and the destruction of all material found.

SCP Foundation:

[**CLASSIFED: AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY]**


	5. Chapter 5

Anderson sat at his desk reading over some of the latest reports. Nothing was out of the ordinary, a few pirate raids, Battarian attacks and merc attacks. Nothing new and, for the most part, beaten off. Even after 30 years of being on the galactic stage, the other races couldn't figure out how to deal with the demi-humans. It was kind of funny in a way. When demi-humans first came out, humans didn't know how to deal with them despite their natural skills.

There was plenty of records about Romans, Egyptians, Chinese and more arguing how to use and deal with demi-humans. It took humans over 1000 years to figure out how to deal with them. Granted it wasn't always pretty, but it showed that they could be united. Sighing with a smile he just continued to read the rest of the reports. A beeping sound then met his ear, someone was calling him.

He clicked on the communications option and Trevos and Valern came up on his screen. "Councillors," he said with some surprise. "What can I help you with?"

"We are a little concerned with the report we go from the Normandy," Valern said. "It seems that it was signed by XO Presley and not the Commander,"

Anderson frowned before remembering a message he got. "One moment," he said as he opened up his omni-tool.

It didn't take him long to find the email and read it. His eyes widened slightly as she read.

"Is there a problem Captain?" Trevos asked noticing his reaction.

"It would appear that the commander had a relapse," he said reading the email.

"Of what?" Valern asked with concern in his voice.

Anderson closed his omni-tool and turned to face the screen. "As you know, the commander underwent an illegal procedure to remove her demi-human genes. Unwilling, I might add. This caused major mental trauma requiring her to need a lot of mental help. It seems this trauma came back in a big way,"

That got their attention with even more concern of their faces. "This is problematic," Valern said. "If the commander is likely to relapse, then we may have to revoke her Spectre status,"

"While I agree," Trevos added. "She has got a long and reputable military career. If she was likely to relapse, I would have thought that being in the military would have caused that,"

Anderson just nodded. "I agree with that assessment councillor," he said. "According to the doctor, Liara and Shepard tried to mind meld with each other. That had an effect on her, making her relapse. And she said that Liara is not one of them," that made Trevos nod with visible relief.

"That's good to hear, I assume that they are working on helping her out," she the said with a hopeful voice.

"Yes, they are looking into the matter and have requested any research about relating do chimeraic minotaurs. I think they are trying to cover all bases in trying to help here. I'll keep you informed," he said before cutting the link.

He sighed before getting for some coffee. This was going to be a long day.

OOOOO

Shepard lay in the bed still cowing in the foetal position. The trauma she had when in the hands of the Foundation must have been tremendous. Zenna's strength of will was amazing to behold. She made it though training, N7 training, hostage situations and even losing her squad some things that would have made most people break. But she didn't, each time she pulled through though will.

The resurfacing of her memories however seemed to be more traumatic to her than her training, or losing her squad. Something about it hit harder than anything else that made her like this. Dr Chackwas assumed that it had something to do with minotaur psychology. Strong body equals a strong mind, she had heard this philosophy before but never understood it. Minotaurs prided strength above all else, even the females were muscular. It was probably this that made her like this, she thinks that she has a weak mind and so can do nothing but cower in fear.

But unless she can talk to the commander, she couldn't do much. All she could do was keep an eye on her and hoped she would get better.

Back in the briefing room the other members got back to their seats. Kadian, being second in command of the team stood in front of the communications section.

"Right, so I'm not sure where to begin," he admitted. "The SCP Foundation is a secret organisation decided to protecting the human race from abnormal object, people and events. They call these things, anomalies because their traits cannot be explained by normal science,"

"When you say normal science…" Liara then interrupted.

"I mean conventional science," he clarified. "Apparently they have an object that makes any room it's in bigger without affecting the outside space," that made the non-humans in the room look at him with raised eyebrows. "I know it's sounds stupid," he admitted.

"You have no idea," Garrus muttered.

"But it's the only thing we have to go on," Kadian said, but even he wasn't sure where to start.

Before anyone could speak up the alarms sounded.

OOOOO

Steven yawed as he lay on his bed reading. He had nothing better to do until his next shift. He sighed as he flipped the page. Being an SCP with the ability to jump between universes made him one of the most interesting humanoid SCP's out there, but it also made him very safe to deal with. At least until after the 2nd week since his last shift. No one was to touch him if there was more than 2 weeks since his last shift as they could be taken with him. But the action made it its own punishment.

It's wasn't a good life, but it was interesting if nothing else. As he turned the page of his book he then fell onto the floor with a grunt.

"Owww," he moaned before an alarm sounded and several barrels of guns pointed at him.

Before he could say anything else, he was forced to his feet and held up with the guns still pointed at him. The armour looked familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Who are you?" one of them asked. "How did you get here?"

"I, errr I…" he stumbled mentally cursing his ability.

"What's going on?" someone then asked making him look over to the voice.

His eyes widened as he saw two people he never expected to see, with features he never expected to see. While he rarely played video game, he knew them from images and stories. Kadian Alenko and Ashley Williams stood nearby looking at him. What was strange was that they had dog looking ears on their heads and tails between their legs. Literal monster people. He could only guess at the number of fans who would love to come here.

"Who are you?" Kadian asked.

"How did you get here?" Ashley followed.

"Err, I don't know," he admitted with a shrug.

Kadian however had a frown on his face. His mind buzzed slightly as he thought about what to do.

"Get him into the medical bay," he then said surprising everyone in the room. "Once he's been checked, bring him to the briefing room,"

The security nodded and escorted him to the medical bay.

OOOOO

After a good two hours of tests from the snake woman Steven now sat in the briefing room along with the other main characters of the Normandy. He could name a few people he knew who would geek out at this chance. But at the moment he used his camera to take pictures discreetly. He wanted to get as much as possible. Soon enough Kadian walked in.

"Ok Steven, how did you get here?" he asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged half lying.

"SCP 507," he then said making Steven look at him with surprise.

"You know who I am?" he asked, but the eyes that Kadian had told him that the question he just asked confirmed what he suspected.

The room fell silent as they looked to him. "SCP 507?" Tali asked with a questioning tone.

"Go on, tell them," Kadian then said. "Nothing will be said outside of this room,"

Steven sighed and nodded. "My name is Steven," he said politely. "I'm also known by the SCP foundation as SCP 507, the reluctant dimension hopper," eyes around the room excluding Kadian widened slightly. "As it sounds, I can jump between dimensions unwilling and at random,"

Garrus scoffed slightly. "Really?" he asked.

"Yep, I know who you all are," he added making them look at him surprised but doubtful. "Garrus Vakarin, C-SEC sniper, your father wanted you to follow in his footsteps in law enforcement. But you want to do more," that made Garrus' eyes widen. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, a young Quarrain on her pilgrimage. Found some data about Saren, a rouge Spectre. In order to stay safe, you hoped to sell it to the Shadow broker, only for agents to try and take you out,"

That made the Quarrian move uncomfortably in her chair.

"I could go on, but I think you get the idea," he added. "From where I am from all of you are from a video game series, but I have been advised not to say much,"

"Why?" Ashley asked. "If you know what will happen why not tell us?"

"You know in time travel movies, how if you tell someone about the future it would change it?" he asked and Ashley nodded. "Similar concept, if I told you what was going to happen the outcome isn't going to be the same,"

Before anyone else could say anything Kadian spoke up. "So, Steven, I assume that Dr Chackwas filled you in on Shepard's condition, right?" the man nodded. "Good, we need you to take us to a SCP base,"

Steven fell silent for a moment considering what he needed to say. "I understand the problem you guys, are in but taking you to an SCP base may not be the best of idea's," he said. "I'm worried about your safety. Most of the SCP's are not pleasant, even then if you going to one of the bases, they will wipe your memory. The best thing I think we can do is I get in contact with the Foundation and organise a meeting with them,"

"How?" Liara asked.

"There is a code that I've been given on the chance that there is an alternate Foundation in the universe I'm in. You'd be surprised a how many versions that there are of me," he said unsure of himself.

"How certain are you that this universe's version of the Foundation will recognise the code?" Tali asked.

"50, 50," Steven admitted. "There is no guarantee that they will respond but it is better than nothing,"

"Do it," was all Kadian said.

OOOOO Site 12.

Site Director Alex just sat at his desk looking over the latest reports. Expenses, situation reports, after action reports and more. It was a boring task, yes but someone needed to do it. The O5 council, needed these reports to understand what was happening with the rest of the sites. Even with this expanded galaxy, they needed to make sure all anomalous objects needed to be secure. Just because humanity had expanded did not mean that the foundation could be complacent.

Yawing, he picked up another file before a ding sounded and he looked up. "Come in," he said and a communications officer walked in.

"Sir, we've received an email from SCP 507," he said walking up to the director's desk handing him a paper print of the email. "He wants us to deliver information regarding demi-human gene experimentation,"

Alex looked at the letter reading it slowly. "It looks like he wants the info from that incident 19 years ago," he said read it.

The officer nodded. "He goes into detail; it looks like a minotaur-chimera by the name of Zenna Shepard tried to mind meld with an asari. It would appear that the act caused her to have a mental relapse from when the group took her and experimented on her,"

"Well, I don't see any reason we should do anything," Alex then said. "It doesn't affect us," but as he said that he read a line that made him raise his brow. "If you don't help her the galaxy will be destroyed," he looked up to see a confused look on his officer's face. "Send a ship out to the coordinates, let's see what SCP 507 has to say,"

The officer nodded and walked out.

OOOOO 1 day later.

A frigate docked with the Normandy. It had no identifying markings and only requested for Steven to board. He did with little hesitation; he clearly had more experience with this sort of thing. This left the crew on the Normandy taking deep breaths, Steven had told them that the Foundation wanted to talk with him before they would do anything. They didn't like to wait, but this was one of those times that they had to.

After a good hour Steven walked back into the Normandy followed by a man in a black uniform.

"They've agreed that they will provide the data that they got from the raid. However, they require all of you be administered amnesiacs," he said.

"That's fine," Kadian said. "As long as we get the Data for the commander, the price will be fine,"

The officer nodded and handed the file to Kadian with a label on it. After that both he and Steven covered their mouths with a mask as a gas was released into the air sending everyone to the floor. The officer then walked up to the cockpit and set a course for the Normandy to move it away from the frigate and delete details about the foundation. He and Steven then left the Normandy as it gradually moved away.

OOOOO

Shepard groaned as she slowly awoke looking up at Chackwas. "Ahhh you're awake," she smiled as the commander sat up.

"Chackwas?" Zenna asked before looking around. "Wha… what happened?"

"The mind meld had an effect on you," the lamia replied. "That part of your childhood remerged,"

Zenna groaned and sighed. "Ok, where are we off to?" she then asked rubbing her head.

"Terra Nova," Chackwas replied. "I took a look at your medical hisssstory and found one of your psychiatrists is there. I took the liberty of contacting her and informing her you had a relapsssse. Ssssshe'sss expecting to sssssee you ssssoon,"

"Until then I'm confined to the medbay?" Chackwas nodded making the commander groan again and fall back onto the bed. "Fine, just don't disturb me and get me some meat,"

The doctor simply smiled and left. If nothing else it looked like she was getting back to normal.


	6. Chapter 6

Liara tossed and turned in her bed trying to fall asleep, but the guilt prevented her from getting any decent sleep. What happened to Zenna still weighed heavily on her to the point where she could think of nothing else. She moaned as the thought bounced around her head. She had heard plenty of remedies for not being able to sleep, warm milk. A human remedy, since she was on a human ship it would be the best idea. It wasn't likely that they would have others.

Getting up and out of bed she walked into the refectory area only to discover she wasn't the only one who was burning the night oil. Shepard sat on a chair in little more than a bra and shorts curling a dumbbell while a pot cooked on the stove. Liara was about to move away before Zenna stopped that by looking over to her.

"Well, look who else is up," she said with a slight smile. "Can't sleep?"

The young asari nodded and bowed her head. "Yeah, sorry," she said.

"It's ok, come on and pull up a chair," the commander said with a smile.

Not wanting to refuse Liara pulled up a chair next to the commander. "I'm guessing that you cannot sleep because of the guilt of what you did to me?" again Liara nodded with her head hug in shame. "Don't beat yourself up," she then said but the asari didn't look to her. "Look this wasn't your fault, no one could have expected what happened to happen. It's just bad luck,"

Liara then looked up at the minotaur. "You serious?"

"Yeah, look Liara this problem couldn't have been foreseen. At least now we can deal with it and move on," Shepard said before placing the dumbbell on the floor and walking up to the pan on the stove. "I don't blame you for what happened, same as the crew. Let it go and you'll sleep easier," she then turned off the cooker and walked back to her seat. "Got to let it cool down now,"

"You are cooking milk?" Liara asked with a slight surprise.

"Yeah, it's a good way to heat up the chemicals that allow you to sleep," Liara nodded as she got a good look at the commander's body.

It was covered in scars, not just bullet wounds, but blade cuts and teeth marks. It looks like as if she went though the grinder more than once. The only thing on her body that wasn't a scar was a tattoo around her right bicep. It was a simple tattoo of triangles around the bicep. (think Korra's armband but black.) But other than that, there was little else in terms of markings. Other than that Shepard was impressive in terms of muscle mass. Liara knew minotuars were strong, but she didn't know that they could have this kind of bulk. She blushed a little.

"Checking out my scars?" again Liara nodded.

"I… errrr," the asari blushed.

"It's ok, people tend to anyway, minotaurs are rarely ashamed of their bodies," Zenna then looked at her arm. "As for me, some of these I ware with pride. Others not so much. Tell me what was your childhood like?"

Liara was shocked at the question but felt like the commander wanted some company for now. "Well, my family wasn't poor, but we weren't rich either. I had few friends, mostly I took time to study, I wanted to know what happened to the Protheans. That's all I could really think about, all I could focus on. Mother was there to help me, but when she wasn't it was hard. Being pureblood made my life no easier as I had to resist bullying and being discriminated for my blood. While it wasn't always good, I feel like I had a good childhood,"

"You had it lucky," Shepard said as she looked down. "I wasn't born to a family like yourself. If I did have a family, I don't remember. I grew up in the streets, fending for myself. Stealing, killing rats, whatever I could get a hold of," she sighed, "It wasn't easy, I had to beat people to get even scraps. Until the anti-demi group got me. After that, I was in a military orphanage doing what I can. The way I saw it, the military was the best option of getting out of that life. And here I am now," she then looked to Liara's shocked face. "We all have baggage, some more then most. Don't beat yourself up if my baggage comes up ok,"

"Y.. yeah, I won't," Liara then smiled.

"Good, now let's get some milk down us," Zenna said as she took and took out a cup and a bowl before pouring milk into both.

She then handed the cup to Liara while keeping the bowl for herself. They both drank.

OOOOO

"Finally, I get to stretch my legs," Ashley moaned as she walked up to the airlock in civvies.

She was dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans with the t-shirt supporting an Amaterasu sports group. Liara and Tali just stared at the marine wide eyed as they didn't expect her to like such a group. While they did talk to her, Ash just seemed to be one of those military types who was interested in weapons and tactics. But it seemed that they were wrong.

"What?" she asked. "I like sports, also the team that's playing the games here is my favourite," that didn't change the looks the two non-humans gave her.

Kadian who waited by the airlock just smiled. He was also in civvies but just simple shirt and trousers. The Normandy had a 4 day leave which people were jumping on with. Most people had already gone out into Terra Nova but the squad was waiting for Zenna.

"So why are we waiting?" Garrus asked.

"Because this is a human world," Zenna was as she walked up.

Mush like the two huhounds, she was also in civvies. But she wore a green tank top instead of shirt and blue trousers. Both of which did nothing to hide her bluffness or scars which surprised Tali, Garrus and impressed Wrex.

"Shepard, you've been holding out on us," he said looking at her scars.

"Don't get any ideas," she shot back. "I'm not interested in men let alone Korgan," Wrex just smiled. "Ok, Tali, Liara. I want the two of you to join Ashley," the marine looked in shock to the commander in surprise.

"Why?" she asked. "Why me?"

Zenna just looked down at the marine making her shrink. "Because this is mostly a human world, non-humans are not common her and they are likely going to get lost," with that the marine just nodded and hung her head. "Good, Kadian I assume you understand what to do?"

"Yeah, take Garrus and Wrex out and keep an eye on them," he said.

"Yes, now to all of your behave," she said. "Or there'll be no free time, and I'll work you all double time,"

Her demonic stare made the squad just nod in response. "Good, now let's move," she said walking into the airlock with them.

OOOOO

Zenna walked down the main street ignoring the looks some people gave her. Soon she stopped in front of a building. She sighed before walking in and made her way to the third floor. Upon reaching the floor she looked between the different doors until she saw the name, she was looking for the one she was looking for. Knocking on the door, she waited for a few moments before she got an answer.

"Come in," a voice called and Zenna walked in.

Inside was a desk, psychiatrist's chair and several books. The owner of the room turned to Zenna with a smile. Her orange ears and tails twitched.

"Zenna, welcome," she said walking up to the minotaur standing around the same height as the commander.

"Dr, Inari," Shepard said with a smile. "It's good to see you again too,"

"Dr, Chackwas has informed me of your mental state. Hard to believe that a mind-meld could have turned you into whimpering ball," she said stroking her chin. "But given your uniqueness,"

"Yeah, but if I cannot do my job without having this problem gone…"

"I know, no more human Spectre," Innari said. "Well, I only have four days to get this sorted. So, let's get to it," she said pulling up a chair to the psychiatrist's chair.

Zenna walked up and lay on the psychiatrist's chair. "Let's begin,"

"That's my line," the kitsune complained.

OOOOO

Tali and Liara didn't know what to expect as they waited in the stands for Ashley to come back with some food. Both were unfamiliar with human sports events, but it seems that people were eager to try and explain but they didn't understand too much. Apparently, football was played by two teams. Each had 11 players with one standing as a 'goalie' to stop a ball from getting into the net. The game would last for 90 minutes with two breaks to let people take a break.

It was confusing to them, but they did understand the basics at least. Soon enough Ashley came up with drinks and popcorn. For Tali, she managed to find the dextro equivalent. Apparently turians liked to attend these games as well.

"Here you go," she said handing the food to the two.

"Errr what's this?" Liara asked looking at the puffy food and dark drink.

"Popcorn and coca cola," Ashley said as she sat. "It's quite tasty, just make sure to check your teeth afterwards. The corn will get trapped in your teeth,"

"I assume that you found me the dextro equivalent," Tali said with a nod from Ash. "Yep, not quite the same from what I'm told,"

Tali just nodded and took a drink out of the cola copy.

"So, err, this sport… is it violent?" Liara asked.

"Depends," Ashley said. "Sometimes there are punch outs and fights, but it depends on the teams and players,"

"Ahhh… okay," she muttered as the teams walked out onto the field.

"COME ON AMATERASU LIONS!" Ashley yelled along with the rest as mixed demi-human and basic teams ran out onto the field.

Most of them were either bunnies, nekomata and huhounds. Tali and Liara just stared, what kind of madness were they about tot witness?

OOOOO A/N: I cannot stand sports, so use your imagination for all it plays out ok?

While the girls where at a sports game the guys decided to hit the bars for a bit. There was nothing better to do, so doing a bit of drinking felt like the best of ideas. finding the nearest bar, the three walked in and found the perfect spot to sit. As they did a bunny girl waitress walked up to them with a smile.

"Goooooood afternoon gentlemen, welcome to the Nova," she said. "Here is a menu just call me when you are ready to order," she said before walking off.

"Look at that ass," Kadian said quietly as he looked at the cotton bud of the bunny girl.

"He, I think I can see the appeal," Garrus muttered.

"I don't," Wrex huffed as he picked up the menu and looked at it. "Hummm anything good to drink?"

"I'm not sure human establishments serve Krogan," Garrus thought.

"Minotaurs, Oni, Demons," Kadian muttered. "We have plenty of Korgan-like demi-humans so there should be a few drinks that could send Wrex tipsy. But I'm not sure," he admitted before he turned to look at Wrex. "Keep an eye out for the term 'not for normal humans', they should be enough for you,"

Wrex smiled and nodded before reading again.

"How many demi-human types are there?" Garrus asked with interest.

Kadian fell silent for a moment, thinking. "I'm not sure of the number," he admitted. "I know that we have hundreds of different sub types. But for the most part I think there is at least 25 basic demi-human types,"

"That must make things very complicated," Wrex said.

"We've had years to organise it and practice it all. Trial and error works wonders," the biotic smiled.

"Well, I've decided," Wrex said before handing the menu to Garrus.

Codex:

Hu-bunnies:

Commonly referred to as bunny people, hu-bunnies are quite numerous but are generally weak when compared to other demi-humans. The term 'breeding like rabbits' is used to describe them as one mother generally produces twins most of the time. Because of this, they are the only demi-human group to have a restriction on breeding. This is in order to keep their population down.

Despite being weak, they are very fast. They are, in fact, the fastest demi-humans of all. Because of this they are used as scouts and fast attack units meant to harass the enemy. Outside of combat, they are mostly employed as waitresses, receptionists and other front of house jobs. This is mostly due to their friendly and lovable nature.

Oni:

Similar to the minotaurs in terms of physical appearance, minus the bull head. They have a mostly human appearance aside from the horns and skin colour. Considered to be more of an irregular variant of the minotaurs demi-humans, it's debated if they are a completely separate type. But due to the similar DNA they share, they are largely regarded as more of a variant but the name identifies them as separate due to the different cultural and ideological differences between the two groups.

Outside of their differences, they both play the same rolls in combat,

Kitsune:

One of the more peaceful demi-humans, Kitsune are considered to be messengers from the gods in the Shinto religion. However, while that is no longer the case their peaceful personalities make them very approachable and pleasant to be around. Due to their fox DNA, they support ears on their heads with orange hair. While they do have tails, the DNA has a mutation that gives a kitsune more then one tail. The more tails, the rarer they are.

Due to their approachability they are normally used as ambassadors, psychiatrists and similar areas. In combat, much like hu-hounds, they are used as fast attack units. But unlike hu-hounds who hunt in packs, kitsune hunt in singles making them assassins and snipers.


	7. Chapter 7

The team stood in Shepard's office each one with a slightly more worried face than the last.

"So, let me get this straight…" she said calmly but with a tone that made it clear they were not off the hook. "You started a bar room brawl, employed prostitutes only to get mugged by them, and started a riot at the sports fields? Over the past 4 days?" the team shrank under her gaze. "Did I not say 'behave'?" no one said anything making her sigh. "All of you are on triple latrine duty!" she ordered and no one questioned her decision. "Now out!"

The team quickly left not wanting to face the wrath of the commander. Once they were out Zenna sighed and picked up her pistol and began to work on it. She needed to keep her mind focused on something. She was planning to modify the weapon anyway. Before she could start her terminal bleeped. Turning to it, she activated it and Anderson's face appeared.

"Ahh commander, good to see you up and around," he said with a smile.

"Thanks sir, good to be up and around," Zenna said with a smile. "Had to give my team a dressing down after what they did,"

Anderson just smiled. "Ahh, the consequences of command," his smiled winded as the commander gave him a look that would have shrank a normal person. But given that she was talking to her Captain, he knew how to counter said look.

"Funny," she muttered.

"I'll bet. But onto more serious matters, we have a lead on Benezia," that got her attention. "She's on Noveria,"

"Good, if nothing else we'll be taking out one of Seren's allies," Zenna said. "Send me the location and we'll be on our way,"

"It's sent, and good luck commander," Anderson said before the link closed.

Opening the message, she got the location and mission brief. Smiling she opened a channel to Joker.

"Joker, I'm sending you coordinates for our next mission, let me know when we are an hour out from it," she ordered.

"Understood commander," he said.

"Time to get back to work," she muttered.

OOOOO

The Normandy flew in close to the ice clad planet. Zenna walked up next to Joker as he started his approach.

"Noveria Control, this is the SSV Normandy. Requesting vector and berth," he said over the radio.

The response they got wasn't a friendly one. "Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defence gird is armed and tracking you. State your business," the control operator said.

Joker glanced at Shepard's unimpressed face. "Citadel business. We have a council Spectre on board," as he said that the Normandy entered the atmosphere into a snowstorm.

"Landing access granted Normandy," the control officer said and sent directions for an open dock. "Be advised. We will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded," that made Zenna's eye twitch slightly as Joker moved into an open dock.

"What a fun bunch," Joker said as he docked the Normandy. "I think I'll take my next leave here," that earned him a slap on the head.

"Not on my watch, and not with my ship at risk," she said fiercely before she opened her omni-tool and activated the intercom. "Liara and Ashley, get your gear ready moving out in 10," with that she made her way to get her own equipment.

After the 10-minute mark, the three met up in the airlock and did a final check on their gear while it cycled. As they did Ashley noticed that the commander had replaced her sniper rifle with a box of some kind. But she shrugged and ignored it. It was likely going to be close quarters anyway; such a weapon wasn't needed. It was likely some weapons she was testing out.

The airlock door opened up as they finished their checks. Before they left Zenna looked to Liara who looked a little nervous. She had been informed about her mother being on this planet, and had insisted on coming. But the Commander felt wrong about it. She no one to call family so she had no reference for any kind of hesitation that Liara might have. So Liara would either be a liability or an asset. She may not like the idea, but it was the best way to find where her true loyalties lay.

The tree then left the airlock and walked out onto the main platform. They made their round and close to the entrance where three guard waited for them. Two of them were clearly wolfs, but the other one was different. Instead of two legs, she stood on four with hooves on each leg.

"Oh shit," Ashley muttered as they approached.

"What?" Liara asked.

"Centaur," the hu-hound whispered. "They don't get along with Minotaurs. It's best if we stay back a bit. Look the wolf's have also backed up," Liara looked to the two other security members and they did indeed back up.

They also shared a worried look on their faces as Zenna approached. "Thou will hold here," the female centaur said with an aggressive tone.

"I'm on important business," Zenna said with an equally aggressive tone. "Step aside,"

"This arrival is not sanctioned; I need to see your credentials. If a cow like you has such things,"

"My name, glue source, is Shepard. A council Spectre," the tone was getting a little too fierce for both group's liking.

"I have never heard such vile lies before," she said with a venomous tone. "While checks shall beest hath carried out. Thou needeth to handeth ov'r their weapons. Sargent St'rling," one of the wolves was about to move, but Shepard and the other three moved more quickly bringing their weapons up.

"Try it, I dare you," Ashley warned.

"Would you like the bullets first?" Zenna asked. "Horsecrap face?"

That struck a neve and the Centaur was about to give the order to fire but the inter-comm activated and someone spoke.

"Captain Cenria stand down," the voice said. "We've confirmed their identity, Spectres are authorised to carry weapons," that made both groups lower their weapons.

"You may enter, hefer," Cenria said stepping to one said allowing Shepard and her team walked through the entrance with the minotaur and centaur staring at each other.

They walked up a set of stairs and though a scanner which bleeped. "Don't worry about them," a voice said making the team turn. "Weapon detectors," the one who spoke made Liara's jaw hit the floor.

Much like the centaur or lamia the top half was human but the legs were tentacles. Eight of them in total and she also noticed gills on the side of her neck. She knew human were varied, but this was just outright bizarre. It was like someone took a hannar and merged it with a human. Ansley noticed the look on the Asari's face and just laughed.

"She's a mermaid," the hu-hound said trying contain het laughter. "A Scylla to be exact,"

"Stop staring Liara, it's rude," Zenna said with a smirk and making the Scylla smile as well.

"Sorry about the security. I'm Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis," she said dropping the smile.

"Yeah, did your Captain piss in her own coffee this morning?" Gianna just shook her head.

Minotaurs and Centaurs rarely get along. Centaurs were proud, noble and stubborn. Minotaurs however were loyal, reliable and hard headed. Culture, philosophy and just general personalities between the two just conflicted between species to the point were having them in the same room will cause problems. Thankfully some of the higher ups have learned to put this aside, but there were always problems between the two species.

"Well I'm not going to go there," the mermaid admitted. "One of my jobs is orientation for new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"

"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently," Zenna asked.

"Define unusual," Gianna said. "Other than that, the only odd person who did pass by was an asari Matriarch. Lady Benezia,"

"She's here?" Liara asked quietly. "Mother,"

"Is it possible to speak to her?" Shepard asked hoping that this mission would be over soon.

"Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex a few days ago. To my knowlage, she's still there,"

"It's a start. Any idea on how I can get there?"

"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port," Gianna said apologetically.

"Here can I find him?"

"His office is at the top level left of the lift,"

Zenna nodded. "Thanks," she said before the three walked off with Liara being silent in a way that made the minotaur be concerned.

OOOOO

After dealing with the problematic Administrator Anoleis the team manged to commandeer a Mako and drive into the cold. But the terrain was as bad as people had said. More than once, due to Zenna's driving and the white out. After driving through the elements, they arrived at Peak 15. As they drove into the garage, they passed an APC outside which was on fire.

"Looks like Benezia had some vehicle troubles," Ashley quipped.

"Ugh, not opening. Bloody cold, ok everyone out," Shepard ordered.

Liara and Ashley nodded and slid their helmets on with Zenna following. Due to her horns she had a special type of helmet that had fibre mesh that covered her horns. This made it easier to put on than just slide them into armour slots. After checking their seals, they opened up the Mako's door and climbed out.

As they emerged from the Mako their shields were battered by the storm, they barely held up against the weather of Noveria. They hurried inside to the airlock. Once inside and the pressure equalised the three of them removed their helmets. The garage door opened revealing a large storage room with several Geth and Krogan who began to fire as the three entered.

"Shit Take cover!" Shepard ordered as she pulled out the box and threw it on top a pile of crates.

The box opened up into a spider like turret and began to fire on the geth.

Smiling, Zenna joined Ashley and Liara behind a truck. The turret kept the krogan and geth busy allowing them to split up. Liara remined behind the truck to support the two. She wasn't experienced in combat outside of using her powers. While this was a good chance to give her more combat experience with and without her biotics. One of the geth units jumped above her and tried to get a shot off. But she reacted quickly and moved out of the way before the shot even hit her.

She then threw a warp ball close to the geth. The gravity around it was gone before a short period of time allowing her to take the spotlight machine out. It fell to the ground with a thud making the others look to her. But by that time, Zenna and Ashley and moved into a better position to take the rest out. As a battlemaster tried to move to a better position, Zenna flanked him and pushed him into a section of cryo tanks. He fell into them, but before he could get up the commander fired a round at one of the tanks.

It exploded turning the Krogan to ice. Another shot ended him, the krogan shattered into a million pieces. Three more enemy's left. Ashley too two of them using her speed and jaws to rip into three of the final few enemies. Once the final geth fell the team regrouped after the commander recovered the turret. But as they did Zenna noticed something on Ashely's face.

"Err Ash, geth blood," she pointed to the side of her mouth.

"Huh," the marine muttered as she whipped out mouth and saw glowing blue liquid on her armour. "Yuk," the then wiped her mouth thoroughly and grabbed a drink from her canteen.

Zenna just smiled at the hu hound before checking her map. "Ok this way," she said leading the squad to a door.

As they approached it, it opened. But something caught them off guard as they looked into the room. Two turrets were faced the door opposite of them.

"Why would they have the turrets facing the other direction?" Liara asked out loud.

"The company probably wanted to keep their employees inside as much as they wanted to keep intruders outside," Ashley replied.

"Or something got out," Zenna thought out loud.

That was an even worse suggestion but either way, the team went into the room next to the hallway and attempted to accessing the console. Power was offline to the terminal. It was worrying to say the least. As Zenna was about to check it she and Ashley looked up to the vents. Both of their ears twitched detecting something.

"You see heard it too, Commander?" Ash asked.

"Yeah something moved through the vent," she replied.

"Geth?" Liara asked wishing that she had similar demi-human abilities.

"No something else," Zenna replied. "More than two legs,"

"Please no tentacle monsters," Ashley muttered which earned a look form the commander.

"You watch too much hentai," she muttered as they walked to a lift.

"Tentacles? Hentai?" the asari asked interested.

"You do not, want to know," Zenna said with a firm voice. "Ever, you look it up, your grip on reality will be warped,"

Liara said nothing about it, but made a mental note about looking it up as they entered the lift. The group rode the elevator up several levels. The hall was filled with snow from an unknown breach in the walls. That made Zenna shiver involuntarily. Minotaurs did not like the cold. While they did have thick skin, but not for the cold. A second set of doors opened which alerted the Geth in the next room. It was a small group of Geth, around four. They tried to open fire, but Zenna pounded one into the floor smashing it.

Liara used a shockwave to scatter them while Ashley finished them off by ripping into one of them and unloading a thermal clip into the other two. Once the last Geth fell, the squeal of metal echoed in the room. Something was coming. The squad formed a circle, waiting for what was to come. Something inside the vent then started to sound something akin growling.

"What is that?" Liara asked out loud.

"Animals? Wind?" Ash suggested. "This place is in bad shape,"

Just then a large insect-like creature burst out of the vents. It was soon followed by a dozen small green insects, and the best part it had tentacles.

"Tentacle monster!" Ash yelled as she just fired her weapon at them. "DIE DIE DIE!"

The green insects exploded when they were shot. With them being in close proximity to each other, it caused a chain reaction. The larger insect was ripped to spreads from all of the micro-explosions. Ashley's weapon just clicked in response, it's thermal clip full of heat. She unloaded an entire clip into the creatures without realising it, and she was still trying to kill the already dead creatures.

Zenna sighed in response and lowered the marine's weapons. Hu-hounds had an odd personality quirk where they would get very excited about something. But that excitement could be anything, from a desire to kill something or wanting to go and see a sports event. It depends on the demi-human question.

"That's enough," Shepard said. "They are dead," Ashley said nothing as she looked at the dead bugs in front of her taking deep breaths. "No more hentai, understand?"

"Yes commander," the marine said with sad dog eyes.

OOOOO

Benezia walked in an elegant manner towards the tank that contained a massive creature, nearly the size of a mako. The Rachni Queen. She was dark purple and was easily three times the size of any of her subjects. Her followers were extremely nervous in presence of the behemoth.

"Lady Benezia!" a commando yelled while running into the room. "I have just received reports of Shepard's team. They are on their way here!"

Benezia sighed quietly. "Send word to our infiltrator at the medical station. She is to be ordered to take her down,"

"Yes, my Lady," The follower went back to her station to relay the orders.

Benezia looked back to the Queen. "Your children were supposed to be the soldiers in Saren's grand army. While the project was a failure, you still may provide us with assistance. Your race knew the location of the Mu relay, which is necessary to find the Conduit which will save us all,"

The Rachni Queen backed away from the Asari Matriarch, mostly in due part to fear.

"Relax, your majesty. Embrace eternity!"

OOOOO

Shepard and the team were close to the lab where the Doctor Cohen said the cure for the quarantine could be made in. Inside there was a lone Volus standing there by himself. He turned around to face the squad as they approached.

"Hello," he said in a very monotonous voice. "You're here for Benezia, I suppose,"

"Yes, we are," Shepard replied. "Are you a survivor from the Hot Labs?"

"Somewhat," he replied. "A part of me died there though. My colleague and I were just going on our lunch when the alarms and they came. We rushed to the tram. I-I killed her," That was a shock to the team. "I got on the tram and closed the door behind me. I watched her head explode like a melon," his voice became more emotional. "She begged to be let in, but I didn't. I just closed the door, I didn't want those creatures coming to rip me apart,"

"I understand," Zenna said as she did understand the problem he faced, kill or be killed. "Do you know what these creatures are?"

"The Rachni?" he asked.

"What?" Liara asked in shock and horror.

"Where did you find Rachni?" Zenna asked with equal concern in her voice.

"We discovered a derelict Rachni vessel and inside was an egg. At first, we wanted to clone the Rachni, but as it turned out, the egg hatched into a Queen, hope to grow an army of them. But they became too wild, feral. We couldn't control them. Now they have over run the facility,"

"That's unsettling," Zenna said.

"Indeed, it is, you are here for the cure yes? The machine is over there," he pointed to a machine across the room.

"Thank you," Ashley said as the others walked over to the machine

Zenna walked up to it and began to start the process. It wasn't a big deal, but was a complicated code in order machine to generate the cure. But when she was done keying in the code it was straight forward from there as it was mostly automotive, leaving just the task of timing the injection sequence. It took 5 minutes for a canister of purple liquid emerged from the machine. Smiling the commander picked it up as the door opened and something walked in. Walking around the machine they then noticed the asari doctor who was waiting in the other room with the survivors standing in the middle of the room flanked by several geth units.

"Looks like some fun," she said grabbing a ball from her belt before walking up to the asari.

"I'm afraid this is as far as you go, Shepard," the Asari agent declared. She had several Geth soldiers standing around her. "You have been an annoyance to Lady Benezia, but your ti-"

"Think fast," Zenna said throwing the ball at the asari.

She caught it with ease and looked at it. "What…" she tried to say but it opened up and millions of vaults of electricity spurted from it and arced from the asari to the geth shutting them down and electrocuting the asari. It killed all of them with one shot. They fell down dead, destroyed.

"You probably could have let her finish her speech, Commander," Ash pointed out.

"I'm not going to give them the time. I'm not interested in villainous speeches, we have a job to do," the minotaur said as she and the other walked out.

OOOOO

Shepard and company entered a large chamber and saw Benezia looking into a tank containing the Rachni Queen.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother," Benezia said while turning to face Shepard as she and the other two approached. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair," Benezia glanced at the Queen. "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." Benezia's eyes were drawn to Liara. "I won't be moved by sympathy. No matter who you bring into this confrontation,"

"Liara is here of her own accord," Zenna said to her knowing that this was the moment for the asari to show where her loyalties lay.

"Indeed... What have you told him about me, Liara?" the asari's mother asked.

"What could I say, mother?" Liara yelled at her. "That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?" her emotions clearly got the better of her, but that made one thing clear. She wasn't loyal to her mother.

"Have you ever faced an Asari commando unit before, Commander? Few humans have,"

"You would kill your own daughter?" Zenna asked in disbelief.

"I now realize I should have been stricter with you," Benezia casted stasis on Shepard freezing her in place.

That was the wrong move as Ashley dived at the asari aiming for the neck. The attack was sudden enough that the matriarch didn't have time to counter it. It made her back up trying to fight off the blood hungry hu-hound. Liara found this as an opportunity to unlock the stasis from Zenna. By using two warp balls, one can overload stasis. This is what she did and the commander just reacted by pulling out her pistol. She then whistled for Ash to pull away.

The marine slashed the matriachs face before jumping off while the doors in the back of the room opened up releasing Asari Commandos and Geth. The asari just smiled as her forces approached the commander and a shield activated around her. This was good an bad, on the one had she couldn't attack, but it also meant that Shepard and her team couldn't attack as well. But that was a good thing as they focused on the geth and commandos.

"Ash, seek and destroy," Zenna ordered.

Ashley smiled and jumped on top of the thank before letting a howl like a wolf. It made her a target for the asari, but that didn't last long as she pounced onto one of them. In that moment the asari realised how much of a problem the demi-humans turned out to be for the turians. But it didn't last as her neck was ripped out killing her. As Ashley pouched from asari to asari the lead commando made her way up to Zenna and Liara who were occupied taking out the geth units. She moved slowly and sneakily up to the two and was about to strike but a large fist hit her in the face and sent her into a wall.

"Trying to sneak up on a minotaur was a bad idea," Zenna was as she moved in for another punch.

She tried to punch the asari again, but the blue alien moved out of the way before it landed. The commando lead then jumped and kicked the minotaur in the head, but it did little other than making her move to the side. That wasn't the reaction she was expecting, she had fought korgan, geth, asari, turians and salarians. But she had rarely faced a demi human. Especially a minotaur like this. She tried to go in again but this time Shepard grabbed her fist hand and twisted it in such a way that it made her fall to her knees before the commander.

Her arm popped out of it's socket by the shear strength of the minotaur making her cry out.

"This is why the turains lost the first contact war," Zenna said with and intimidating look, "They underestimated us, thought they were fighting one army when they were fighting multiple, you'd do well to remember that," she the slammed her head into the asari's breaking her nose and knocking her out.

As the last soldier fell Benezia's shield also fell. She was about to attack but Liara and Zenna were too fast as they brought up their pistols and fired. The rounds hit her personal shield taking it down before three rounds it her in the chest ad arms sending her to the floor.

"It's over, Benezia," Ashley said from on top of the tank with her assault rifle

"This is not over," the matriarch said as she stood up and covered her bullet wound. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear,"

At this point she didn't sound coherent to the team. Almost deluded.

"The Rachni didn't cooperate with you, why should I?" Zenna asked not taking her aim or pistol of her.

Benezia looked back at her and then away. "I will not betray him. You will-" she stopped herself and leaned against the terminal station in front of the Rachni tank. "You-" Benezia pushed herself off of the terminal. "You must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsion briefly, but the indoctrination is strong," she sounded totally different now, as if she was trying to fight something.

"Indoctrination?" Liara asked not lowering her smg.

"You don't know what's it's like to be beating on the glass wall as you watch yourself torturing and killing," she said as she approached. "All because of the indoctrination. People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him. The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary,"

"Where did he get that ship?" Zenna asked.

Ever since she saw it on Eden prime, she had been looking through every ship design out there, and nothing matched up. Even the geth designs had nothing close to it.

"I don't know," Benezia admitted, but there was no way to know if she was telling the truth. "All I do know is that it is not a Geth creation. The ship exerts a force on you. Over time Saren's views become more correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you. It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist instead I became a willing tool eager to serve. He sent me here to find the location of the Mu relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago,"

Shepard eyes went to the Queen and widened. "She found it,"

"Yes," she replied. "Two thousand years ago, the Rachni inhabited that region of the galaxy. They discovered the relay. The Rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I took the location from the Queen's mind," She added as a further note of regret. "I was not gentle."

"Why does Saren need the Mu relay?" Liara asked.

"He believes it will lead him to the Conduit. I would tell you more if I could, but Saren did not share his council with me. I was merely a servant to his cause,"

"You can still make it right. Give me the information," Zenna said.

"I was not myself. I should have been stronger." Benezia stood and approached the commander.

"I transcribed the location on this OSD. Take it. Please!" she begged practically shoving it into the commander's hands.

"Knowing the relay's coordinates is not enough," Liara said. "Do you know where he was to go from there?"

"Saren wouldn't tell me the destination. But you must find out quickly. I transmitted the information to him before you arrived. You have to stop me-! I ca- I can't-" She was losing control over her will. "His teeth are at my ear! Fingers on my spine! You should- You shoulda-" She screamed. "You should-!"

"Mother!" Liara cried out to her. "I- Don't leave! Fight him!"

Benezia looked to Liara. "You've always made me proud, Liara." She turned away and then turned around to face them. "Die!"

Before anyone else could react Liara pulled the trigger and a burst of bullets hit her mother square on the cheast. Realiseing what she had done she ran up to her mother and began to cradle her.

"I-I cannot go on," she said. "You will have to stop him, Shepard,"

"Hold on, we have medi-gel!" Liara tried to offer. "Maybe we can-"

"No!" she refused. "He is still in my mind. I'm not entirely myself. I will never be myself again,"

"Mother..." Liara muttered.

"Good night, Little Wing. I will see you again with the dawn. No light." There was slight panic in her voice. "They always said there would be a light," and with that Benezia passed away in front of them.

"Mother!" Liara cried as she cradled what was left of her mother.

Zenna said nothing as she walked up to Liara and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Take all the time you need," Liara looked up at her with sad, tear-filled eyes and said, "Thank you,"

With that Shepard looked back to the Queen and started to approach she reached the tank she looked into it at the rare site of a living Rachni Queen.

'What am I going to do with you?' she questioned. 'Your race started a war with the galaxy and the Krogan were used to wipe you out just to stop you. But you're the last of your kind,'

The Rachni Queen turned and roared at him. It made the minotaur jumped back only to bump into one of the ssari commandos that was killed. She drew his pistol and aimed at her. Something was different about her. She sluggishly walked like she was sleep walking. The asari walked to the tank and turned around. As that happened Ash jumped down from the tank and did not take her aim off the asari.

"This one serves as our voice," the Asari said in an odd voice. There was a slight tune to her voice. "We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colourless,"

"Musics?" Shepard muttered wondering what she meant.

"Your way of communicating is strange. Flat. It does not colour the air. Well, your friends' music does not move the air. Your... voice. I can see colour in it. When we speak, one moves all,"

"This will be a fun conversation," Ash joked which earned her a slap on the back of the head. "Oww,"

"We are the Mother," the Queen declared. "We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced. We are Rachni,"

"How are you speaking through her?" Zenna asked as she approached the tank.

"Our kind sing through touching of thought. We pluck the strings and the other understands. She is weak. She has colours we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bitter-sweet. You are not in harmony with those ones who wish to control us. They took our children away from us before they could sing and act out violently,"

"Makes sense," Liara commented as she stood after placing her mother in a funeral style pose. "Lock a kid in a closet till they're 16, they are not likely to come out right,"

"They cannot be saved. Sadly, they must be put down," the Queen said in a sad tone.

"If you're sure that they cannot be saved," Ashley muttered.

"It is... lamentable, but it must be done. Before you go... We stand before you. What will you sing? Will you free us? Or are we to fade away once more?" the Queen asked.

"Are you a survivor of your race, or a clone?" Zenna asked wanting to know more before she made a decision.

"We do not know," the Queen admitted. "We were only an egg hearing mother cry in our dreams. A tone from space hushed one voice after another. It forced the singers to resonate with its own sour yellow note. Then we awoke in this place. The last echo of those who came out from the Singing Planet. The sky is silent,"

"If I let you out are you going to try to take revenge on the galaxy?" that was something the commander had to consider, let the Queen go and risk the safety of the galaxy or end her.

"N-No!" the Asari conduit said. "We do not know what happened during the war. We only heard dissonance songs the colour of oily shadows. We will go into hiding and teach our children peace and harmony. Maybe once they understand, then we may return,"

"Millions of my kind died trying to wipe them out, Shepard," Ash mumbled. "Use the acid tanks. That's all I'm going to say,"

"No!" Liara pleaded. "The Council went too far. They deserve a second chance!"

"Your companions hear the truth. You have the power to free us or return us to the silence of memory," the tone in her voice fell as she knew that the minotaur in front of her held her life in her hands.

Would she be despicable for genocide? Just because they existed? She remembered history, about how the rachni attacked ships. What if something made them? She didn't know what to do. But then her mind turned back to how the minotaurs were nearly whipped from existence. There was only a few left before the came back in force with more to offer the world. There really was only one choice to make.

"Alright, I'll free you," Zenna declared.

Ash and Liara said nothing as they both agreed with the commander.

"You will give us the chance to compose anew?" the Queen asked in amazement. "We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children,"

Shepard approached the terminal and pushed in the command to release the Queen into the Wilds. The Queen looked to Shepard before exiting. Even if she was unable to understand her song, the gesture was obvious.

'Farewell and thank you,'

OOOOO

Back on the Normandy Zenna told Ashley and Liara to take the rest of the day off while she got chewed out by the council for letting the rachni go. Liara took the time to look up this 'hentai' that Zenna had told her not to watch. But her interest was peaked by the way she acted. There was plenty of results, so needing to start somewhere she chose the first one, Bible Black.

Codex:

Centaurs:

Unlike most other demi-human types, centaurs hold themselves in high esteem. Proud, arrogant, noble and stubborn to a fault, they have a long history much like nekomata and hu-hounds. Mostly focused in Europe, they paired themselves up with knights. This is where they became closely associated with nobility and arrogance. A knight would never be separated from their noble steed.

Due to their heritage, they are very traditional and don't like change. It's hard for them to adjust to any kind of change being social, rules, climate and more. This gives them a stubborn streak making them unlikeable to a lot of people.

A common trait that most centaurs share, however is their mutual dislike of minotaurs. They see the bovine demi-humans as little more than barbaric brutes with little to no tact. While the minotaurs view the centaurs as pompous problem makers.

In combat they act as fast attack cavalry with heavy weapons on their backs. Moving and striking at the same time they are a hard foe to take down when you don't have large calibre machine guns. Outside of combat, they mostly serve as teachers and historians due to their love of history.

Mermaids:

Commonly referred to as mer people, are one of the most unusual demi-human groups when compared to the others. They have several types within their main category such as the octopus Scylla. For the most part Mermaids have fish tails and gills on their neck which makes it hard for them to move around. This is why they use cybernetic leg attachments on their waits. But some types, such as the Scylla, can use their tentacles to navigate without the use of cybernetics.

Playful and informative Mermaids are very pleasant to have around and have a conversation with. In combat, they have little use outside of sea battles as they are used as saboteurs and recon specialists. Outside of combat, they are fine actors, actresses and musicians. Some of their music is said to be heavenly.


	8. Chapter 8

"INCOMING!" a minotaur yelled as he fell back to a makeshift barricade.

A mortar shell detonated destroying the barricades but it opened up the way for a hidden turret to fire at incoming geth troopers. It also allowed for several security officers to fire at them and the armatures that they had brought in for backup. The rockets hit their mark and the geth were forced to fall back and regroup. While that happened, the red armoured security soldiers of Exogeni moved some rubble back into the main area to protect the entrance.

The minotaur grunted as he sat and let a medic deal with his wounds. He cursed as the asari medic tended to his wounds, they weren't bad, just painful. Looking around, the people moved what they could to try and reinforce the barriers that were destroyed during the attack. Most of them were civilians while the rest were security personnel. Some of them were attended by medics while others just got something to eat. Not that he would complain, they needed some kind of pick me up. As the medic worked as fast as he can as a taura walked up to the minotaur.

"Captain, you ok?" she asked.

"I'm good, reinforce out position," he ordered.

The taura nodded and made her way over to the barricades to help reinforce it. The asari looked to the taura before looking to the Captain,

"Sir, apologies for asking but why doesn't she..." she made a motion of having a septum ring. "…have a ring like yours?"

"You mean why is she ringless?" he asked getting a nod from the asari. "It's not a common thing, minotaurs have a ring to show that they belong to a group. Silver for belonging to a tribe, while gold is mostly a sign of marriage. But ringless means that you have no family to call your own. For lack of a better word, she's an orphan, and being a minotaur that is very rare,"

The asari just nodded looking over to the female minotaur. "Close family ties huh?"

"Indeed, we minotaurs pride ourselves on being a large family," he admitted. "I found her alone and scared, and took her in. But she refused to be ringed, but it's fine. Adopted minotaurs don't like to get ringed until they are married," the asari nodded again as someone came running up.

"Sir, we have a ship incoming from the alliance. IFF identifies it as the Normandy," he said. "They said that they are here to look for a turian named Seren,"

"Good, it's time we got help," the minotaur muttered.

OOOOO

The Normandy flew in to Feros' atmosphere with the stealth systems active. Before they entered, Joker detected several geth AA guns and fighters coming from the archology spires. Not wanting to get shot, he activated the stealth systems before flying into the docking bay. Inside the airlock stood Shepard, her team and Chackwas' medical staff. As soon as the airlock opened the group of 15 people walked out carrying medical supplies and ammunition. As they walked out a settler waited for them.

"Hi," Zenna said walking up to him. "You in charge here?"

"Yeah," the man said. "You need to talk to Fai Dan, he's just up the stairs past the freighter,"

Before anyone one else could say anything, a geth trooper with a rocket launcher blew the man apart and forcing the group to get into cover. Five geth soldiers had managed to find their way to the landing pad, this was likely a stealth attack to weaken the colonies forces. But it seemed that they didn't expect the Normandy to land. This took the machines by surprise, but being machines they just adapted to the situation. Two of them had moved up to confront the group while the other three help back and tried to pick off the medical team.

Zenna and Wrex emerged from cover and opened fire their weapons at the geth. While they did put up shields they didn't last with the oncoming fire. They didn't last as the shields went and Garrus took them down. As for the other three, Ashley and Kadian jumped over a gap and ripped into what was left of the geth before they spat out the oil and metal.

"Yuck, I hate that taste," Ashley muttered.

"Then don't swallow," Zenna smiled as she walked past.

Ashley just made a face before following the commander. The team moved up to flights of stairs before getting shot at by the colonists.

"Hey! Friendly!" Zenna called out coming out with her hands up.

"Shit, cease fire!" someone yelled and a man walked up to her. "Commander it's good to see you," he said. "They finally sent someone,"

"It's no problem," Zenna said as she indicated for the rest of the team to emerge with weapons, ammo and medical supplies. "This is for you, and my ship doctor with her staff will help out,"

"Thanks, this will…" the man tried to say but an explosion at the other end of the settlement. "They are coming from the tower!" he yelled. "Protect the heart of the colony!"

"Ash, Garrus you two are with me," Zenna said. "The rest of you stay here and reinforce this position,"

The crew nodded and they split up. Zenna, Ashley and Garrus moved up to the far entrance and took cover as geth troopers began to fire at them. Pulling out a grenade, Ashley tossed it into the entrance corridor. It exploded taking out three of the geth troopers allowing Zenna to unload a thermal clip into two other geth troopers. They then moved up into the tower itself. Reaching the top level, they noticed a geth dropship dropping in troopers to try and take the tower.

Zenna and Ashley advanced to the nearest cover they could find while Garrus held back and began to take out the geth's shields. Ash and Zenna fished them off with a quick burst of rounds. As they moved up the commander pulled out her pistol and began to fire high explosive rounds at the dropship. It didn't do much but it did send the message to send it back to where it came from. Satisfied with the fact that they aren't going to be back soon they headed back down to the settlement.

As they walked in the man who met them earlier ran up to them. "Thanks' for that, I'm Fai Dan, leader of the colony. For the time being,"

"It's not a problem, we are here to help," Zenna said.

"I appreciate your concern and your efforts against the geth. I just wish there was more I could help out with," Fai Dan said as an irregular minotaur walked up.

"They have been slowed but they will be back," he said. "Sorry, I'm Captain Vuras head of security, or at least what's left of it,"

"Pleasure," Zenna said as she held out her hand and the Captain shook it with a smile.

"Your ringless?" he asked with a raised brow. "Orphan?"

"Yeah," Shepard answered. "Grew up on earth. No family, but I'm a Chimera,"

"Ouch…" Fai dan muttered. "Rough childhood then,"

"You have no idea," the commander muttered as she rubbed the side of her head. "Anti-demi human group," both of them looked a her with a mild shock.

Anti-demi human groups were not uncommon, but they were normally just protestors and the like. However, ones for ones who had more drastic idea's, they got shut down pretty quickly before any damage could be done. So, it was rare to hear that someone was captured by them, even if they were a shadow organisation.

"Anyway, that's in the past," she said shaking her head getting rid of the painful memories. "The geth are here for a reason, I need to know what,"

"We don't know what they are after," Fai dan admitted. "They cam and just attacked. Took out most of the harpies as well. Their main base of operations is at the Exogeni headquarters. You can look there if you are looking for answers,"

Zenna nodded. Before she arrived, she made sure to check up on the details of the world. The planet was supported by the Exogeni company for research purposes. But the file was a little sketchy on what that research was. She made a mental note to check up on that. Even if it was company secrets, if Seren was here then there had to be a reason for it.

"Where is the headquarters?" she then asked.

"At the other end of the skyway," Vuras said. "You cannot miss it,"

"Thanks, come on guy's," Zenna said as she led her team back up the tower.

Once they were out of earshot Fai dan turned to the minotaur standing next to him. "She just looks her, you don't think…" he muttered.

Vuras shrugged. "It's possible, they look enough alike. But that could be just coincidence," he shook his head. "But then there's the demi-human group and being an orphan. Minotaur orphans are rare, so it's more than possible,"

"Isn't she defending the entrance?" Fai dan asked.

"Yeah…" Vuras nodded as the tower began to shake.

OOOOO

The geth decided to try another attack on the Zhu's hope defensive line. This time however, it was more of a success as they took out several of the security personnel. But the barrier and heavy fire from the defence line kept them back. One of the demi-humans however was posing quite a threat to the geth forces. Phrara charged in using a rebar club to smash two of the geth soldiers into the ground. One of the armatures tried to get a shot off at her but she just moved out of the way, but the blast staggered her.

That allowed the machine to re-target her, but before it could get a shot off, she moved faster then it could register. It tried to relocate her but its legs were crushed underneath it. A hand then reached in and ripped the pipes and wires from the inside forcing the machine to shut down. Phrara smiled as she threw the wires down and looked at her next target. A prime walked down the skyway holding a massive weapon in hand. Cursing, the minotaur moved out of the way as the prime fired. It was flanked by several geth soldiers and armatures.

As she moved back to the defensive wall as the rounds hit the barricade. In the skies several harpies flew in and fired several rockets at the incoming geth forces. The explosions managed to take out several of them. But they still advanced. But this time they fired at the flaying demi-humans. One of the rounds managed to hit one of the harpies in the wing making him fly behind the barricade. Phrara ran up to him and helped him over to the side. Pulling out a medigel canister she applied it to the wound.

"Thanks," he muttered with a moan.

The lift door then opened with a hu-hound, tuarian and a surprising sight of a minotaur which made Phrara just stare at her. Dark skin, silver hair, 6 feet tall, muscles ready to burst other armour. But that wasn't what caught her eyes, it was her face. While she had a few scars, she looked just like her. The officer's mind raced as she watched the minotaur move up to the barricade and help the others fend off the attack. She didn't notice Phrara and just focused on the geth attack.

That was probably a good thing, for now. Questions can wait, right now the defence of Zhu's hope was needed. Grabbing her weapon, she ran up to the barricades and began to fire as well.

Codex:

Harpies:

Harpies are one of the more common types of demi human out there. But due to their ability to fly, their biology has placed limits on them. It's rare to see a harpy over 5 feet and have any sexual organ to be large. Their bones are also quite light, but this also makes them quite weak. Broken bones are a common thing with this demi-human species. But making them stronger wound negatively affect how they fly.

Their arms, aren't really arms however, they are wings which makes things requiring arms and hands problematic for them. But this is solved with cybernetic arm implants, but they need to be removed before the harpy takes flight. Personality wise, harpies are some of the kindest people you can meet. But they do focus on food when it's around.

In terms of jobs, harpies tend to be quite varied. Restaurants, pilots and more, there is not set thing that the harpies cannot do. When it comes to combat, harpies perform a very niche role. While they are used as dogfighters, they can also be used for recon and bombing. Given their small stature, any radar that picks them up makes them look like a large bird. This is one of the reasons why the turains had trouble with demi-human forces.

Because they have no arms, but wings the weapons they use tend to be machine guns or rocket launchers fixed to their chests. While this maybe dangerous, the technology has been perfected over years of trial and error. It also makes combat harpies highly tried in order to use these weapons safely.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guy, sorry for the long wait. Hope this Chapter gets rid of some quarantine boredom and enjoy. **

With the skybridge cleared, or at the very least the entrance to Zuh's hope, Shepard and her team took stock on the situation. Out manned, and out gunned they still fought despite the odds. At least half of the troopers were demi-humans which helped their defence. Company security were either former military or had basic military training. The former was preferable to the latter, and it showed that the tactics in use were military. That was what saved them, if they tried anything else, they would have likely fallen by now.

As she wondered around, she noticed another taura talking to one of the harpies. She decided to get an idea about the situation. She walked up to her but let her finish talking with the demi-human. As soon as the taura stood Shepard walked up to her.

"Are you the one in charge here?" she asked getting the taura's attention.

As she turned Shepard's eyes widened slightly. She looked almost like her, but there were a few things different about her. For one, she had a softer appearance and her horns were shorter. The two just looked at each other for a few moments before one of them spoke.

"Clan?" Zenna asked.

"Unknown, orphan," she replied. "You?"

"Orphan as well," Shepard confirmed. "Chimera?" the taura nodded in response.

"Strange isn't it?" the taura asked with a slight smile. "We might be sisters,"

"Indeed, but at the moment let's leave that right now. What's the current situation?" she then asked changing the subject as it can wait until later.

"Bad," the taura muttered. "The geth come in waves, every time they try to penetrate our defences. While we've managed to hold them off, each time we lose someone and part of the barricades go down. We cannot hold on for much longer,"

Shepard just nodded at that. Normally there would be supply runs and rotating resources in order to keep the gate open, but in this case, they were running out of supplies and people. Even with the mind of both an engineer and soldier, it was pretty clear that they could only hold out for a few more days.

"Where do the geth come from?" Zenna then asked.

The taura lead Shepard to the gate entrance and pointed at the far tower. "That is where they have their base set up, but they do have a lookout post at the centre tower. Take that out, and we can breathe easier,"

"Any idea what they are here for?"

The taura shrugged. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure. Scuttlebutt and all that, but what I have heard is that they are after some kind of experiment under Zhu's hope. But like I said, scuttlebutt. I have no idea if it's true,"

"Thanks anyway," Zenna said as she walked over to her team who ere setting up a mako tank. "All good?" she asked.

"Yes, but I refuse to get in if you are driving," Ashley said staring at the minotaur who looked back at the huhoud with slightly wide eyes.

"Why?" she asked.

"You are a very, very bad driver," Garrus added. "If you owed a car, I swear you'd lose your licence in a heartbeat,"

"So, you two would rather be left here, with the duty of triple latrine duty rather than join me on my mission?" Zenna asked with and evil smile and her brow raised. "Or do you want me to make the punishment worse?"

That shut the two up quickly knowing that with the commander, any threat you got from her she meant it and just climbed into the Mako. The commander soon followed and made the team regret not taking the punishment.

OOOOO

The drive was terrible what was only made worse by the combat on the bridges. Thankfully they did have a break at the middle tower talking to a group of survivors who managed to hide from the geth. One of them, Juliana, was worried about her daughter and asked the team to take a look out. But if she lasted this long, then she was either a soldier or a very good person who can hide.

After clearing the area around the final tower and they exited. Still alert they looked around and kept their eyes open for any more geth staying in cover. As they moved in Ashley kicked one of the geth bodies.

"The geth don't need much of an invitation, do they?" she asked.

"No, they don't, let's evict them," Garrus said with a smile.

With the area clear, the team moved up a ramp and spotted a force field around a door to their left. Zenna approached it and hit it with her fist. Pulling back, she shook her hand while the other two walked up to her.

"Not getting though this with our equipment," she muttered before looking around.

Her eyes then fell on a gap in the middle of the room. Walking over to it she looked down with the others following. There was a bit of a drop, but if that force field was any indication there is another way back up.

"One way drop commander," Ashley said.

"Let's go then," Zenna said and dropped down followed by the other two.

The small drop leads out into an open area that looked to be some form of converted hanger. Rubble at both ends indicated that this place had seen better days. As they walked in Ashley noticed a dead verren and walked up to it.

"Dead," she muttered as Zenna and Garrus followed.

Just then a round whizzed past then followed by a 'damn it'.

"I'm so sorry," the shooter said coming out of cover.

She was a human with the uniform of one of the science teams. But her uniform was a little worse for wear. Dirt, muck and tears covered the suit, she had been here a while. She approached lowing her weapon.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I thought you were one of those geth, or verren," she defended making Ash scowl a bit.

"It's ok, your safe now," Zenna said. "But why are you here in the first place?"

"It's my own fault," the scientist admitted. "I stayed behind to back up data while everyone else was running. Next thing I knew a geth ship latched on and the power went out,"

"Don't worry, well get you out but first we need to know what the geth are after," Garrus said.

"It's not the geth, it's the energy field they put up," the woman explained. "They don't want anyone…." she began to trail off stopping herself before she said anything wrong.

"Look, I'm here for the geth. If there's anything you need to say it even if it's classified. I cannot do my job and help if you hold anything back," Shepard with a clam tone which had an underline threat.

It got to the woman who nodded in response. "I don't know for certain, but I think that they are here for the Thorian,"

"What's a Thorian?" Ashley asked not liking the sound of this.

"It's an indigenous life form, Exo-geni was studying it," she said with a fearful tone in her voice.

"What are the details?" Zenna asked interested in where this would lead.

However, she just shook her head. "I may not be able to with all the geth," she said calmly but something in her voice told the three she was worried about something. "Look we need to get out of here past the field,"

"Is that geth ship still latched on?" the commander asked as her mind began to formulate a plan.

"Yes, it's been here since the first attack," the woman confirmed.

"The it's likely that it's powering the field, we take that out we take out the filed," the minotaur said as her engineer mind began to buzz.

"I've noticed the geth placing power lines everywhere," the woman added. "You could follow them to the ship,"

"Will do," Zenna said but before they moved, she then noticed the small coming from the woman. "What's your name?"

"Lizabeth Baynham," she said before her eyes widened. "Did my mother ask you to find me?"

"She did," Ashley added. "She wanted us to make sure you are safe. She's still alive with a group of survivors,"

"Thank god," Lizabeth muttered.

"We'll clear the area then head back," Zenna added. "Stay here until we give you a call,"

"Oh wait," she said before the three took off.

Liz pulled out her ID tag that was strapped to her belt and handed it to Shepard. "Here take my ID, it will get you past most of the doors,"

"Thanks, it will speed this mission up," Zenna smiled taking the ID and moved off. "Get back into your hiding spot and wait for us to call you,"

Liz nodded and got back into her hiding spot while Shepard opened up her omni-tool and map. She then pointed to a door at the opposite far end of the room. Leading the way, the team went through the door only to be met with the sounds of an argument.

"Damn machine, access encrypted files," the unmistakeable sounds of a korgan yelled.

"Sounds like someone's having trouble," Garrus smiled as they team moved up fight of stairs.

As expected from the sounds they spotted a krogan arguing with a VI and was getting very, very annoyed. The team just smiled at this as the hulking mass of muscle didn't even notice them.

"Ashley, if you'd do the honours," Zenna offered.

"With pleasure," the hu-hound said as she readied herself for an attack.

She then moved like lightning and pounced on the krogan who was too busy to notice. While Ashley lacked the claws of the nekomata she had the jaws to compensate. She growled and used her teeth to rip one of his eyes out. He yelled out on pain before she jumped off allowing him to thrash about a bit more before jumping with knife in hand and drove it into his other eye blinding him. But she managed to drive it in deep enough to reach the brain and killed him. He fell down dead as Ash got off and unloaded a few rounds into him making sure he was dead.

The other two soon joined her as she wiped her mouth and spitting out krogan blood. "Good work," Zenna said.

"Every time I see demi-humans in action, the more I become more convinced that we would have lost the war," Garrus said as he looked at the krogan. "You are just so unreal that even if we could counter you, it wouldn't last long,"

"Welcome back, Research assistant Elisabeth Baynham. What can I do for you?" the VI then asked.

'It must be due to the ID tag,' Zenna thought as she walked up next to the VI. "What information was the former user trying to access?" she asked seeing this as the best time to get some answers.

"The pervious user was attempting to access details on the study of subject species 37, the Throrian," it said making the other straighten up.

"Tell me everything you told the previous user," Zenna then demanded.

"I was unable to provide the previous user with any relevant data. Aside from lacking the necessary clearance, there has been no new available data on species 37," that was a little concerning to Zenna and her team as she looked at the others. "All sensors monitoring the observation post at Zhu's hope have been inactive for several cycles,"

"What?" Ashley said with alarm.

"It's under Zhu's hope," Zenna muttered. "That's why the geth are attacking. They want the Thorian. Tell me everything you know," she then demanded.

"The Thorian is a simple plant life-form that exhibits sentient behaviour with other flora. Through dispersion and eventual inhalation of spores, it can infect and control other species, including humans," the three looked at each other with a combination of surprise and fear. "However, the spores cannot control the minotaur demi-humans," Zenna looked at the VI.

"Why?" she asked slowly.

Demi-humans are humans, but they did have major differences between them. Fundamentally they are human, but each one shared both genetic and physical traits that made them different. Things like disease, environment and some foods negatively effects one group on a grander, more major scale but not others. If something wasn't going to affect her, Zenna needed to know why.

"Chemical imbalance, due to the minotaur demi-human size and muscular mass there is a chemical imbalance that causes the spores to degrade and die," he VI said. "Left over growth hormones stay within the minotaur's body even after death, these hormones are needed to maintain a balance between the size and mass of the minotaur. However, this creates a hormone imbalance that the spores cannot deal with. This is based off the Zhu's hope control group with has yielded some interesting results. Before sensors went offline almost 85% of test subjects of all tests were infected,"

"Exo-Geni knew it's employees were getting infected?" Garrus asked with a mixture of shock and anger.

"It was deemed necessary by Exo-geni to assess the true potential of species 37," the VI clarified.

"That explains why they were a little trigger happy," Ashley said.

"Better call Joker," Zenna said as she it her comm. "Joker do you read?"

But all she got was static.


	10. Chapter 10

After getting the geth ship off the tower and reconnecting with the Normandy, Shepard and her team discovered that the Thorian activated its mind control abilities. With that, and getting Lizabeth onto the Mako they had planned to get back to the Normandy, but with geth ship shot off Lizabeth's mother tried to get a message out but was stopped by someone. That lead to Shepard stopping the Mako, shooting a corporate thug and getting an electric frequency that would allow her and her team to take out the colonists without killing them.

With that Zenna walked into a locked herself into a workshop and began to tinker with the grenades she, Ashley and Garrus had. They had been waiting an hour making the turian quite impatient.

"Can't we just get her out?" he asked earning looks of pity.

"If you don't want a minotaur to rip your arms off…" Lizabeth said. "…don't interrupt them when they are working," that made the turian fall silent as he looked at the human.

Lizabeth just surged with a smile before the workshop door opened up and Shepard walked out carrying three grenade bandoleers. Walking up to her team she handed two of them to Garrus and Ashley before strapping her own over her shoulder. The two followed suits.

"So, what's the plan?" Garrus asked.

"We go in, naturalise the colonists and take out the Thorian," Zenna said. "Simple, easy quick. But nothing ever is simple," she added as she walked over to the Mako. "Let's move!"

"Good luck," Lizabeth called as Ashley and Garrus followed their commander and climbed into the tank bracing themselves for the minotaurs bad driving.

The ride back to the main tower was uneventful until they reached the main gates and something banged on the Mako. Opening the door Ashley was the fist out only to be attacked by a humanoid form. She backed up quickly fearing it was one of the colonists, but when she sniffed the air, they smelled all wrong. As soon as she backed up and got a good look at the creatures that were attacking the Mako.

They had a greenish colour and looked like that they were made from vines. One spotted her and advanced quickly, but the hu-hound was faster and unloaded a few rounds into it. It did little forcing Ash to get her assault rifle and unloaded a full clip into it. That killed it, but now the others were on her and began to advance. As they did Zenna and Garrus exited the Mako and fired at the creatures. They fell down dead allowing the three to get a good look at them. Ashley squatted down and picked one of the arms up.

"Looks like some kind of vine," she muttered as Zenna followed what she did.

"Looks like something a spider would have spun," Shepard added as she looked at the whole body. "It's like an organic drone," she said as she and Ash stood. "Either way, we have a battle on our hands,"

With that she, Ashley and Garrus moved up to the door and opened it. No one was inside, but as a precaution Ash and Garrus got their helmets on to try and prevent infection. With her DNA Zenna was immune, or least she was according to the VI. Given that she was immune to most diseases and viruses anyway, it wasn't that far-fetched. Readying their weapons and grenades, the team advanced slowly towards the lift. Given that they were facing demi-humans this time that meant there was a number of places where they could spring from.

The lift opened up and the team moved in. As they did Garrus began to think about the first contact war and how the Turians lost the ground war. The demi-humans managed to outmanoeuvre the turian forces and wondered if they were going to have the same problems. Looking towards the two demi-humans and his mind was set at ease. Humans had been on their world for thousands of years, demi-humans maybe less so but that still meant that they had a lot of time to refine their tactics against them. Ashley and Zenna most likely had more experience with anti-demi-human tactics. Best to follow them.

The lift door opened and gunfire hit around the sides but thanks to their shields they managed to get out and into cover fast. At least Ash and Zenna did, the latter of which grabbed Garrus and pulled him into cover with her. Blinking rapidly, he soon registered the colonists firing at him. The speed Shepard pulled him with made him have after images and a bit of a headache.

"Shoot to wound," Shepard ordered as she threw a grenade.

It detonated between two fire teams and the electric discharge from it shocked their nervous systems making them faint. Once they fell the team moved up into the main colony compound, but got supressed as one of the security members had brought out a mobile turret. Ashley looked around and jumped onto a ledge. She may have not been a nekomata, but she was a hu-hound and the two shared similar qualities to each other. Both are hunters, both are predators but one was a pack animal while the other was close to being an apex predator. She moved to higher ground as the colonists tracked her. But that allowed Garrus and Zenna to throw the grenades into the colonists knocking them out.

As she moved high Ashley managed to noticed several of those vine-like beings running toward her team. Getting her pistol out, she opened fired as she moved. The rounds hit the vine-like beings but didn't fully take them down but enough to slow them down and allow for the rest of the team to take them down and use their grenades to knock out the colonists. As the last of the colonists fell Fai-Dan soon emerged holding a pistol. He aimed it at Zenna who aimed her own at him.

"It wants me to stop you but I cannot," he said as he approached. "But I won't!" he turned the gun on himself. "I WON'T!" pulling the trigger the round exited the gun and went through his head killing him instantly.

Sighing Shepard slid her pistol back onto her mag-lock and looked around before a moan met her ears. Turing she then saw the minotaur captain being carried by Pharah. She ran up to help and brought the captain to a makeshift medical bed. As she did, she noticed that both were wounded. They must have put up a bit of a fight to try and stop the others.

"Shepard?" he asked as he was helped onto the bed. "What happened?"

"The Thorian was releasing spores in the colony. We are unaffected because it cannot cope with a chemical imbalance in our systems," Zenna answered. "I need to know where it is,"

"What's a Thorian?" Pharah asked.

"I'll explain later," the captain said before his looked turned back to Shepard. "Below here," he said as he pointed towards a panel on one of the pre-fab units. "That will unlock the door,"

"Thanks," Zenna said before she ran over to it and hit the panel.

A section of the floor rose up and a passage was opened up. Upon regrouping the team made their way down. After descending down three levels the final floor lead into a large chamber.

"Ok we need to find this plant and put a few rounds into…" Ashley was saying as they moved into the chamber but as soon as they entered her eyes fell onto a large fleshy creature hanging from the ruins. "What the hell is that?" she asked looked up before noticing its 'mouth'. "T…tentacles?"

"This is going to be problematic," Zenna muttered as she cocked her weapon.

As they approached the thing began to retch. It spluttered something out of its mouth then a green skinned asari emerged from the mouth, something that made Ash just stare in horror. Once out, the asari stood and looked towards Shepard and her team. The asari was naked, but appeared to lack the genitalia of the asari. She looked like a life-sized green doll.

"Invaders!" she declared. "Your ever step is a transgression. A thousand feelers apprise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the old growth, as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands you to be in awe," that last part made Zenna scoff, she had seen more impressive toy ships.

"You gave something to Saren," she said "Something I need. I'm willing to make a deal,"

"Saren sought knowledge from those who are gone," the 'Thorian' replied. "The old growth listened to the flesh for the first time in the long cycle. Trades were made. Then the cold ones began to killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The old growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!"

"Do you think I'm going to let you do as you will?" Zenna said as she cracked her neck.

"No more will the Thorian listen to that scurry," the asari said. "Your lives are short, but have gone on too long!"

Tentacles then emerged from the back of the asari and shot at the team. She grabbed all three of them by the waists and necks planning to coke the life out of them. But a loud snap sounded and the asari screamed in horror. Zenna then landed on the floor with a thud before she tackled the asari to the floor and snapped her neck killing it. The rest of the team fell to the floor as the Thorian began to retch again.

"It's producing another one," Ashely yelled.

"Look up," Zenna yelled pointing to where the Thorian had planted itself. "Take those out and it will fall! You to get those hard points, I'll deal with the asari,"

The two nodded and ran to the side and upwards as Zenna grabbed a tentacle aimed at her. She looked to the newly formed asari with a smile.

"Unnatural abomination," the 'Thorian' said as the minotaur snapped the tentacle.

"That's hurtful," Shepard said in a mocking tone as she unclipped her shoulder pads and the armour on her arms.

Both fell to the floor with an audible thud. The asari just looked at Zenna with an unimpressed look as the minotaur flexed her muscles.

"Bring it," she smiled.

The asari did nothing but the tentacles she had begun to try and impale the minotaur. But the minotaur moved with a speed unnatural to normal minotaurs. In no time at all, the tentacles were snapped and made useless by the minotaurs hands. The asari looked down at her damaged tentacles before looking up. Her mouth split open as she screamed and charged at Zenna. As she moved in the minotaur grabbed her head and crushed it with her bare hands. These Asari, were not normal. They may have had speed and these tentacles on their side, but they were weaker and had no clear biotic abilities. Something was wrong. But she didn't have to think about this as the Thorian retched and produced two more asari. Both of them looked very deformed as one had blades instead of arms while the other lacked arms and legs but has spider like legs instead.

Whatever these things were, it was clear that the Thorian wanted to kill her. But she wouldn't give it the satisfaction. Cracking her knuckles and neck she readied herself for a fight. As she did this Garrus and Ashley moved up to the first of the nodes that held the Thorian in place. The vine like creature tried to stop them but they were easy to kill. Once the last one fell, Ashley moved up and placed a charge on the node, setting it to detonate she backed up and it blew. The Thorian cried out in pain as the vine began to buckle from the wight of holding it.

They then advanced to the next level but as they did Garrus looked down as Zenna ripped the spine and skull from one of the mutated asari. His eyes then widened as she then used it like a club and smashed it on another clone sending it off down into the abyss.

"That doesn't seem physically possible," he said.

"Well we need to move otherwise we'll become plant fertilizer," she said with Garrus nodding and moved.

Zenna misjudged one of the attacks and an asari with blades instead of arms managed to cut her cheek and side. The cuts weren't deep but they did make her back up and go on the defensive as a few more mutated asari came out. Shepard looked around counting 5 of them as they advanced. Gritting her teeth, she then went for one of her guns but there was nothing on her maglocks. Looking to her side, her gun was gone as well as the ones on her back. She was so engrossed in the fight that she didn't notice her weapons get removed. Cursing this turned into a battle of attrition now.

Loosening herself up, she readied herself once again and took a fighting stance as another explosion and cry of pain echoed in her ears. One of the asari then charged in with blades ready to cut Zenna limb from limb. Unlike the last time, she moved to the side and grabbed the 'leg' of the asari and threw her into another one. The two got knocked off the edge and fell. The creepy part was that there was no scream as they fell. As she recovered two of the asari with tentacles managed to get her in their tentacles and held her tightly. She tried to struggle, but the way the tentacles had gotten her managed to hold her down.

As she struggled, one of the bladed asari walked up to her and was about to remove her head when another explosion sounded. This time all the asari cried out as the Thorian was being dislodged due to the lack of its vines holding it in place. The asari let her go as they clasped their heads while screaming. Zenna looked up as the Thorian fell into the pit below it and into the abyss. A few moments later, the asari died and decayed into dust. But as the minotaur looked around, she noticed a pod on the wall open up and an asari fell out of it unconscious.

"Finally some answers," she said


	11. Chapter 11

Shiala moaned as she awoke only to find a lamia and minotaur looking down at her. It didn't take her long to figure out that what Saren did to her had been undone and her savours had now become her captors. She couldn't help but smile at this, she was finally free of that maniac's control. Relaxing she looked up at the two and spoke, but as she did her voice felt sore.

"I guess you are the ones who helped?" she asked.

"Yeah, you fell out of this pod in the Thorian's lair," the minotaur said. "I assume it wasn't willingly,"

"Yes and no," Shiala replied making the two demi humans look to each other with a raised brow. "I served Matriarch Benezia, who allied herself with Saren,"

"Any reassssson why?" the lamia asked.

"She foresaw his influence would have and she thought that she could guide him down another path. But Saren was compelling, and drew her in to his way of thinking," the minotaur's eyes narrowed at her.

"He can control minds?" she asked.

"It's hard to explain," Shiala admitted as she tried think on how to explain. "Benezia, underestimated Saren. As did I and my sisters. We came to believe in his cause and goals. The strength of his influence is troubling. Asari matriarchs are some of the most powerful and intelligent beings in the galaxy. I… I don't think it was Saren himself is the one who managed to influence us, he planted the seeds but I think it was the vessel he had. An enormous warship the calls Sovereign. Every time I walked onto that ship, I felt more and more sure of our goal. I think that the ship can dominate minds," she sook her head as she remembered more. "It's some form of indoctrination. It takes time, sometimes days or weeks but in the end it's absolute," she winced as if the thought of it pained her.

The lamia moved to one side and took some pills out of a pot and handed them to Shiala. "Take thessse, they sssshoul help with the pain,"

"Thank you," the asari said as she took the pills and swallowed them.

"So why did Saren put you in that Thorian pod?" the minotaur asked.

"He needed by biotics to communicate with the Thorian, to learn it's secrets. I was sacrificed in trade for an alliance between Saren and the Thorian," she winced again at the painful memory. "But the alliance didn't last. After he had what he wanted, he ordered the geth to destroy any and all evidence of its existence," she then looked up at the minotaur as her mind slowly beginning to clear. "Your Commander Shepard, right?" she asked with the commander just nodding. "Saren knows you are after the conduit, knowing that you'll try and destroy it to stop him. He knows that you are following him, so he ordered the destruction of the Thorian to stop you from getting the cipher,"

This time, the lamia's eyes narrowed. "What'sssss thissss Csssssipher?" she asked with a concerned voice.

"The beacon on Eden Prime gave the commander visions, but cannot make sense of them. that's because they were made for a Prothean mind. Being human means that she, like Saren, will not be able to understand them. They both need to think like a Prothean, to understand their culture, their history, their very existence. That's why Saren needed the Thorian, it was here long before the Protheans even built their city. It watched them, studied them and when they died, they became apart of it,"

"Commander I do not like where this is going," the lamia said.

"Like it or not, Chackwas, it's going to happen," Zenna shot before turing back to the Asari. "So, the Cipher is, more or less, an understanding of the Protheans?"

Shiala fell silent for a moment. "It's hard to explain. In a way you are right, but it's more complex than that it's like…." she tried to think of the right human idiom. "…shooting fish in a barrel?"

That just made the two humans smile. "That means something is dead easy," Shepard said making Shiala go red. "You are trying to say it's impossible to understand without knowing it right?" that got a nod from the Asari. "So, it's basically a cold day in hell,"

"I'm not familiar with human religions," Shiala admitted.

"That's fine, hell in the main human religions is meant to be a place where your soul goes for eternal torment. It's said to be very hot, so saying 'a cold day in hell' essentially means it's impossible," Zenna explained.

"Ah, I see what you mean, but I don't think that's what I'm looking for. It's like trying to explain colour to someone who is both deaf and blind," she said as she finally found a good enough comparison making the Commander nod in response. "To understand you must have an endemic ancestral memory. A viewpoint spanning thousands of Prothean generations. When I melded with the Thorian, I sensed it. Both of our existences merged and we became one. Such knowledge cannot be taught, it simply exists,"

"I'm going to need that knowledge," Zenna said with a thoughtful mind. "Will a mind meld help with that?"

"Yes, I can transfer the knowledge to you though it," Shiala agreed.

"Before this happens…" Chackwas began to say but the commander already brought up her omni-tool.

"Liara can you come to the medical bay please," she said and a few seconds latter the young daughter of Benezia walked in.

"Commander," she nodded. "How can I help?"

"We are about to mind meld for something called the Cipher, can you watch to see if anything happens?" that was like a slap to the face with Shiala even if she understood the reason why.

Liara was a little hesitant but nodded. The commander the walked up next to the bed and unlocked Shiala's cuffs.

"Ok when ready," Zenna said, but her tone betrayed her nervousness.

"Close your eyes commander," Shiala said calmly as she placed her fingers on the side of the commander's temples while the commander closed her eyes. "Clear your mind, and embrace eternity,"

To the commander the experience lasted for what seemed like hours as the images became clear. But to the outside world it lasted for just a few seconds. As the two broke contact Liara moved up and grabbed the commander before she could fall back while Shiala just shook her head. The experience of mind melding was mentally taxing on both parties, so they would experience some discomfort but it was clear that the commander's mental barriers were strong as she didn't relapse.

"I've just given you the Cipher, all you need to stop Saren," Shiala said. "It may take your mind some time to adjust and process the information, but in time it will become clear,"

"Thank you," Zenna said before she regained her composure. "What will you do now?"

"I'll stay on Zhu's hope and help out, it's the least I can do for repayment," she said and the commander just nodded.

OOOOO a few hours later.

Pharah and Zenna stood in the medical bay as Chackwas finished her DNA scan of the two. They weren't expecting much, but there was a bit of hope to see if the two were related. But, being minotaurs, they tempered their expectations knowing that not everything would be what they want it to be. After a few more moments Chackwas pulled away and looked up.

"I'm sssssory," she said and the two minotaurs just looked at each other.

"Well it was a long shot," Pharah said. "But I'm glad there's more out there,"

"Same," Zenna said as she took Pharah's hand and shook it. "Maybe a catch up for lunch?"

"I'd like that," Pharah said as she and the commander walked out.

As they did Joker came on over the intercom. "Commander, the council would like to discuss the mission report. Should I patch them in?"

"Please do, I'm on the way," Zenna said before looking at her chimera sister. "Sorry but duty calls,"

Pharah just smiled. "Don't worry I know, I had to do the same thing,"

"Yeah, see you sometime," Zenna said as she pulled away from the minotaur and walked into the briefing room where the councillor's holograms were already up.

"Councillors," Zenna greeted.

"Commander, Exo-genni should have told us about the Thorian," Tevos said. "It would have made your job much easier,"

"I doubt it councillor," Shepard said. "Knowing corporations, they would have likely made some demands that I wouldn't be able to keep,"

"You might have been able to capture it for study," Valern added.

"I don't think that would have been possible given it's spores and more. I mean Exo-genni tried to study it and look how that turned out,"

"A fair point commander, but still…" Valern muttered.

"Perhaps it's for the best," Tevos conceded. "At least the colony was saved,"

"Of course, it was saved," Sparatus shot. "Shepard would go to any lengths to save a human colony,"

"And what does being human have to do with it?" Shepard shot back. "But then again you being a desk jockey, I bet you don't know how to handle a gun anymore," that made him twitch.

"Spectres have to make sacrifices Commander," Valern then said to stop the word brawl that was about to begin. "I hope you are ready when the time comes,"

"I know about sacrifice," Zenna admitted as she shuddered. "If it comes to it, I'll deal with those consequences,"

"We'll be looking forward to your next report," Tevos said before the holograms vanished.

Zenna sighed before Joker came back on over the intercom. "Commander, I have Anderson on the line for you,"

"Patch him in," Shepard said and Anderson's holographic from appeared before here.

"Shepard, how's the Spectre life treating you?" he asked in a casual tone.

"Like I want to rip the head of the Turian councilman," she said with a shrug.

Anderson tried to stifle a chuckle but failed. "I can imagine that; he's never been happy with us humans. But onto a more serious note," he lost that amused tone and turned more serious. "We've gotten reports from Nova, that several demi-human children have gone missing. Given your experience with them I though you could investigate,"

"Will do," Zenna said.

OOOOO

Liara sighed as she rested her head on her desk as she thought about what to do. She had finished her final batch of Prothean research, which wasn't much. What she wanted to do was get into Shepard's head and see this Cipher the other Asari gave her. But the Commander wanted to give it a good day until they tried anything, which made sense. Her first experience with mind melding likely made her a little hesitant. Her train of thought was interrupted by her stomach growling.

That was all the encouragement she needed to get up and walk out. As she walked into the main canteen, she spied the other's already getting food.

"Hey Liara," Ashley called. "Grab a tray and join us,"

"You sure?" the Asari asked shyly.

Ash rolled her eyes, got up and practically dragged the Asari to the bench and sat her down. Some of the others laughed while someone placed their tray in front of her.

"Eat up," he said while he went to get another.

"I feel soo…." She muttered before Garrus spoke up.

"Alien?" he finished which she nodded. "Well don't worry, you'll get used to it,"

"Yeah, but you get used to aliens if you work with demi-humans all the time," Joker said earning himself a slap from Shepard who sat down with her own tray.

Liara just stared at the amount of food on the tray. "Do you have enough there?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yep, I may not have biotics, but I do have a hyperactive metabolism," she said as she ripped into a large chunk of meat.

"For better milk production," Kadian joked.

"Kadain," Zenna said getting his attention. "Fetch," she said as she threw a bone over the table.

Unable to resist his wolf DNA, Kadian jumped and grabbed the bone in his mouth. As he landed, he began to lick it before standing in fury looking at the commander who began to laugh along with others. Liara smiled and looked at her food before tucking in.


	12. Chapter 12

The sun of Nova shined down as Shepard and her team exited the Normandy. Nova was one of the first join colonisation efforts done by both humans and asari. Being around 20 years old, the colony was relatively young when compared to others. But there was one thing that surprised the rest of the galaxy as this world was where the first asari with demi-human DNA was born.

Demi-human DNA wasn't as straight forward as people like to think. It adapts very quickly thanks to the virus that turned them. This meant, that when it meets new DNA it binds and changes them trying to adapt to the new biology. As it turns out, the asari who have demi-human DNA gain the traits of their demi-human 'father'. Ears, tail, scales and more could be transferred to the asari child with the right father.

This caused a mix of reactions from both the asari and humans. While humans were surprised but accepting, the asari however had a different view. Just like with the humans, they saw genetic diversity as a good thing but given that effected their physical appearance that caused some problems. Normally all asari are female and have a similar appearance, but with the demi-human DNA that was turned on its head. Several matriarchs didn't like this as they saw it as defiling the asari body.

The asari split, most of them found the changes to be good while the rest didn't. Similar to the human anti-demi-human groups, the anti-demi-asari groups became a thing. But much like the human views on them, anyone associated with these anti groups were considered to be a criminal act even if the animal features did weird them out a bit. Humans were used to it, so it didn't affect them as much.

Either way, these anti-demi-human groups needed to be stopped and quickly before they had a chance to create chimeras. Zenna, despite being one, didn't want children to go though what she did. Being part of the exclusive chimera club was fun and all, but the process wasn't something she would wish on her worst enemy. As she exited the Normandy, one of the port authority workers walked up to her.

"Commander Shepard?" he asked, his dog tail twitching.

"That's me," she nodded in response.

"Good, I need you to come with me there's been an incident," he said as he turned and began to walk with the commander and her team following.

"What's happened?" Liara asked.

"A group of demi-asari children got kidnapped while on a school trip. One of them being the Chiefs daughter," he said making the group fall silent as they followed him.

It didn't take them long to get to the police station which was in chaos as they tried to find the missing children. The Chief was in his office going over the video footage of the kidnapping with mounting frustration. As Zenna and her team walked in, her eyes fell on the hu-hound who had his head in his hands.

"God fucking damn it!" he yelled as he pushed his computer off the table before looking up. "Commander Shepard," he said as he stood then looked down at his computer. "Sorry about the state of my office,"

"Given the situation, I understand completely," Zenna said as a demi-asari walked in.

The team just shared in surprise at the asari. The three didn't know what to expect with demi-asari, as they weren't too common outside of Nova. But they never expected to see an asari-lamia slither into the room. Unlike human lamia, who had different coloured tails that tended to match their hair, asari-lamia just had either blue or purple scales matching their skin tone. Zenna just shook her head and trembled slightly as she remembered the experiments she went though. Some of the other chimera's had worse problems. As she thought about them, she made a note to send them all an email to how they were doing.

"Chief, I got the latest reports," she said as she handed him a tablet before leaving.

"Thanks Lena," he said as he took them and looked at the report with a sigh. "Damn it," he muttered.

"Let me guess, not trace?" Zenna asked with the Chief nodding. "Yeah, you're not going to find much," she added making the hu-hound look up. "The one thing that anti-demi-human groups are good at are covering their tracks. Even the remotest piece of evidence is placed to throw you off. Not to mention the sent hiders,"

"You think you can find them?" he asked to which the commander nodded.

"When I was younger, I helped police groups look for demi-human-groups. I know what to look for, even if the kidnappers are asari," she said with a smile.

The Chief nodded in response. "So, I'll assume you want to go to the crime scene?" he asked and the commander nodded once again. "I'll tell one of my men to take you, and you are going to need this," he said as he handed her a tablet. "Good luck,"

"I'll find you daughter," Zenna said as she left the office and began to read the report. "We are going to have a problem," she muttered to herself.

OOOOO

One of the officers, Talia, brought the group over to the back of a local museum where the children got kidnapped. The area had been sealed off for the past few days. Normally, the area would have been cleared but given the situation the area had been untouched to allow for a very thorough investigation. They were about to clear it up when Zenna arrived and used her Spectre privileges to keep it there for a while.

Before Zenna joined the military, she was with special unit that looked and took down several anti-demi-human groups. During that investigation she learned quite a few things about their tactics. Most of the groups tend to be protest groups which was fine, but the ones who took people and tried to remove the virus from their genes were the dangerous ones. They mostly consisted of geneticists and doctors. People who thought that they could remove the virus and create a cure for it.

Both groups also tended to have a major religious element to it with very few having a racial element to them. Those elements made them easy to predict as that would normally mean that they some religious people covering their tracks. They would hide the group in warehouses, old hospitals or on star ships. Given how you the Nova colony was, it was unlikely that they had any abandoned hospitals or spare warehouses.

Zenna looked down at the reports again seeing if she missed something. No matter how careful you are, you'll always miss something. A hair, cells, a foot print. Sometimes, the smallest thing will point to the criminal if you look hard enough. Staning she then turned to one of the officers.

"Excuse me," she said as she approached him. "Was there any evidence that was removed from the crime scene?"

The turian nodded. "Yeah, it should be in the evidence office,"

"How many pieces?"

"Not my department," the turian shrugged. "Ask Talia, she was the one in charge of removing the evidence,"

Shepard nodded and walked over to Talia. "Officer," she said calmly. "You were the one who removed evidence from the scene right?"

The human nodded in response. "Yeah, we removed several,"

"Can you give me a number?" Zenna asked as she looked at the report again/

"About 10 to 14 pieces of evidence," Talia shrugged.

"Then why does the report say that only 4 pieces were handed in," she asked raising her brow at the officer.

"What?" Talia asked as she took the report from the commander's hand and looked at it. "This isn't right…"

Shepard looked over to Kadain who tapped his nose and shook his head. Zenna nodded, she smelt nothing but honesty which only meant one thing.

OOOOO

A young asari with hu-hound features just watched as her mother strapped her into a chair.

"Mummy, what are you doing?" she asked calmly.

"Mummy is going to make you better little wing," the asari said.

"Better?" the young asari questioned. "But I don't feel ill,"

Her mother then locked the final strap and touched the young asari's face. "But you are," she said before standing up and walking to the door.

A human doctor in a white coat then approached the young asari with a syringe in hand making her struggle and begged her mother to do something. But her mother did nothing as the doctor injected a yellow liquid into the asari's arm. As soon as she did, she cried out in pain and began to toss and turn in her bindings.

"It hurts!" she cried before begging her mother to stop the pain.

Just then two lumps began to grow on her head and her skin broke. Two small horns appeared on her forehead and her eyes became more serpentine along with parts of her legs developing scales. Soon the pain stopped, but her eyes betrayed the sadness as she looked to her mother who shared an angry expression.

"Why didn't it work?" she asked in outrage.

"The virus has a nasty habit of adapting and it attacks anything that tries to remove it," the doctor said. "This makes it very hard to remove if not outright destroying it. We have been trying for years to try and remove it, we have never come close,"

The mother sighed as she looked at her daughter with a disappointed look. "I'd rather have a dead child then a demi-asari," she said as she drew her pistol and aimed it at her daughter.

Before she could do anything, a minotaur burst though and pinned the mother to the wall while a hu-hound pinned down the doctor.

"H…how…" the asari muttered.

"It's a pity that you tried to stop the investigation from the inside," the minotaur said as she bared her fangs. "It made it easy to pin you down you pureblood bitch,"

She the slammed her fist into the asari's gut forcing her to drop the pistol and fall to the ground. "Turing your daughter into a chimera, and trying to kill her when you don't like what she has become. You have on right to call yourself a mother,"

"Screw you, you impure bitch," was all the asari managed to say before the minotaur slammed her fist into the asari's head knocking her out.

OOOOO a day later.

With the whole situation over, Zenna decided to go visit the young asari who got injected. It didn't take much digging, as her father was the Chief of police. Yali, as she was called, was in one of the local hospitals who were dealing with the other demi-humans and demi-asari children who had been taken. Thankfully, only a three of them became chimera's while the others just needed some food.

But Yali was different, she had heard her mother dislike her for the fact she was demi-asari and wanted to kill her. That had a very bad mental effect on her along with the changes she suffered. Zenna, wanted to try and give her the comfort of someone who had been in a similar situation to her had. She soon found the room and walked in.

"Hello," she said with a smile and Yali looked up.

She had been crying for a good while evidenced by the puffed-up eyes and marks around them.

"Hello miss Shepard," she said with an upset tone.

"Please," the commander said as she pulled up a chair next to the bed. "Call me Zenna, calling me miss just makes me feel old. How are you doing?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore," Yali said as she looked down at her legs.

Shepard followed her eyes and saw the purple scales along the sides of her legs. "I can see why,"

"The doctors say that they are lamia scales," she said with a slight sniffle. "I'm a chimera,"

"So am I," Zenna said as she indicated her eye. "Originally, I was a minotaur but now I have several demi-human traits. Just like you. We are a rare and special breed of demi-humans Yali, we are not born but have these new abilities forced on us by people who don't understand us,"

"But mummy didn't like me this way," the young asari moaned.

"Your father loves you no matter what," the commander said as she tried to comfort her. "Your mother only cared about your looks, not the fact that you are her daughter. She sounds like a bully to me, only caring about what you are, not who you are,"

"But I still love mummy," she replied.

"I know, but she did something to hurt you,"

"I know," she then started to cry again making Zenna pull her close into a tight embrace.

"It's ok, it's ok," she said letting the girl having a good cry, that's all she could do for now.

OOOOO a few days later.

Zenna and Yali waited at the restaurant Nebula. She managed to get in contact with the other chimera's who she grew up with. The only people who ever came close to family, and with what Yali went though she needed support. They didn't need to wait long as three people entered and smiled as soon as they saw Zenna.

"Well look who it is, Miss I'm the first human Spectre," a harpy said.

Yali looked at the three newcomers, a lamia, harpy and nekomata. While they did have their normal demi-human features, they did have features not normal to their namesake. The lamia had cat ears on her head and fathers along her arms. The harpy supported a pair of horns on his head along with an elongated tongue, while the nekomata had multiple tails and a pair of fox ears to go with his nekomata ears.

Zenna smiled as she got up and hugged each one of them. "Zach, Alexia, Jann, It's good to see you guy's again," she said. "Sorry for the lack of contact,"

"It's ok," the nekomata said waving his hand. "When you joined the military, we expected a lack of contact," he said before looking over at Yali. "Is that the girl you were talking about?"

Zenna nodded. "Yeah Zach, but be careful she's a little jumpy,"

Zach nodded and was the first to approach. "Hey there," he said as he got down to eye level with her. "Your Yali right?" she nodded and he produced a blue wrapped present for her. "I got this for you, to make you feel better,"

Yali took it and opened it to find a small bear inside. "Ahh," she smiled. "It's so cute! Thank you, mister,"

"It's fine," Zach said, "It's to welcome you into a very special club,"

Zenna watched as Zach played around with Yali. "Well, I guess fatherhood mellowed him out,"

"Your not wrong about that," Jann, the lamia, said with a smile.


	13. Chapter 13

As Shepard sat and talked with her old friends, Liara and the rest of the crew sat nearby watching them. It was hard to admit how calm and cheerful she was, something that the crew rarely saw when she was not in her workshop. The crew smiled as well as they watched the commander talk to someone who knew the pain she had. Liara smiled as she turned to her food and continued to eat, something was nagging at her. She wasn't sure what but something told her that things were going to change.

After finishing, Shepard and her friends along with the young demi-asari exited the restaurant.

"So where are you headed now?" Zach asked.

"I'm heading back to my ship, I still have a job to do," Zenna said with a smile. "I'll keep in touch guy's," she then pulled her friends in and hugged them.

"You better," Yali said as the four pulled away and waved.

"Have fun?" Alenko asked as Shepard approached. "Yeah, they just want me to keep in contact,"

He nodded at that as Liara spoke up. "Before we continue, the Council want to talk to you commander, it sounded important,"

OOOOO

As Zenna walked into the comm room the holograms of the councillors appeared. "Commander, you took your time," Sparatus quipped. "I thought hunting Saren was important?"

"Do you know how many Chimera's there are in the galaxy?" Shepard asked shooting him a look that told him he had no right to complain. "Less than 200, so I apologise if I'm trying to help newly-made Chimera's adjust to their new situation,"

Sparatus visibly bristled at that but Trevos interrupted. "Enough, both of you. Commander, we didn't call you to comment about how you conduct your operations, we're here to give you information that maybe critical to capturing Saren,"

"I'll take all the information I can get," Zenna nodded.

"We received an urgent message from one of our infiltration regiment's in the traverse," Valern said.

Shepard just nodded. "I'm listening," she said calmly.

"We currently have several infiltration units scattered across the border regions of citadel space. This particular unit was gathering intel on Saren," he finished.

"Given your calling me, something must have gone wrong," the commander replied.

"Yes, unfortunately the message we received was little more than static. The team must be in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar communications. But the message was sent on a channel reserved for mission critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us was important,"

"Maybe it's a cure to the virus," Zenna smiled before noticing the blank expressions of the councillors. "Human joke,"

"Anyway, considering your interests in Saren, we thought you might want to investigate. The signal came from a planet called Virmire,"

"Send the location, I've got nothing going on and this will be better than nothing," Zenna said.

"Good luck commander," Trevos added before the holograms went.

"Fuck them," Zenna muttered as she walked out of the briefing room. "Joker you got the location for this Virmire?"

"Yeah, just downloaded. You want me to se course?" he asked over the comm.

"You know it, and make it quick,"

OOOOO

After being dropped off by the Normandy and taking out the anti-air towers, the Mako drove up to the Salarian camp. The Normandy was nearby, forced to land by order of the local commander. Pulling up to a small sandbank, Zenna kicked open the door and climbed out, followed by a shaken Liara and Garrus.

"I will never get in a vehicle with you again," Garrus said. "That driving was abysmal,"

Zenna just shrugged and walked over to the campsite. Kadian was talking to one of the Salarian officers, but the commander didn't catch all of what the two said as she approached.

"Is there a problem here?" Shepard asked as she stood next to Kadian.

"I'm Captain Kirrahe, Third Infiltration Regiment STG," the Salarian said. "You and your crew just landed in the middle of a hotzone. Every AA gun in ten miles has been alerted to your presence,"

"So, what's the plan?" Zenna asked realising the problem that presented.

"We stay put until the council sends us reinforcements," Kirrahe said with an annoyed tone in his voice.

Zenna looked to him. "We are the reinforcements,"

"What?" the Captain asked his eyes widening looking between the demi-humans and ship. "I told the Council to send a fleet,"

"Your transmission wasn't clear, most of it was just static," Shepard replied. "The council sent me to investigate,"

"That is the repetition of our task," the Captain said shaking his head in annoyance. "I lost half my men investigating this place,"

"So, what have you found?" Ashley asked.

"Saren's base of operations. He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth, mercs and very well fortified," he responded not sounding pleased, something must have got him spooked.

"What kind of research?" Zenna asked.

"He's using the facility to breed an army of Krogan and Minotaurs," he replied as Wrex walked up.

"How's that possible?" the Krogan asked.

"Apparently Saren has discovered a cure for the geophage, and the demi-human virus," Kirrahe said causing all four in front of him to fall silent.

"He's found a cure for the demi-human virus?" Zenna asked silently.

"A cure for the genophage?" Wrex asked as well.

The genophage cure was something that Wrex could only dream of, but the demi-human virus cure was something else entirely. Humanity had dealt with the division with their race for at least 2 millennia. To change it now would cause more problems than it was worth, not to mention the ethical problems. Being a demi-human wasn't something that needed to be 'cured' it was just who you are. If was as if someone was saying that they could cure eye colour, or autism. Something that was so fundamentally part of you that you couldn't change it.

"We can't let these cures get out," Zenna said looking to the ground. "They need to be destroyed,"

Wrex looked to her to see her fist tighten. "You can destroy the demi-human cure, but I will get my hands on the genophage cure. If there is a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it, and if you get in my way…" he let the threat hang in the air before walking off.

As he walked off, Zenna's eyes followed him. "Is he going to be a problem?"

"No," Shepard said as she looked up. "I'll talk to him, then we can get planning an assault,"

With that she walked over to Wrex who was doing some fishing with his shotgun. "If you are going to try and stop me you are wasting your time,"

"I know you're upset, but we both know Saren's the enemy here," Zenna said.

"Really?" he remarked. "Saren created a cure for my people. You want to destroy it. Help me out here, Shepard. The line between friend and foe are getting blurry,"

"This isn't a cure,"Zenna said calmly. "It's a weapon, and if Saren is allowed to used it, you won't be around to reap the benefits. None of us will, it's a red herring,"

"That's a chance we should be willing to take…" he was about to say but Shepard stopped him.

"How can be sure it is a cure?" she asked causing his eyes to widen. "Over the centuries people on earth have been looking for a 'cure' to the demi-human bacteria. But all they had was nothing, empty promises so that we could be used and discarded like tools. To them we were slaves, and the same is true of this cure. Is that what you want for them? Your race was tools for the Council once, and they thanked you for winning the Rachni war by sterilizing your race! You think Saren will treat your people any better?" as she spoke, she was clam, and didn't yell nor did she bring up her weapons.

But Wrex could fell the anger she was radiating. He admittedly didn't know much about demi-humans but it was clear that if the commander was being calm something has to have her on edge. He looked to her hands again, if her fists got any tighter, they would fall off. She was angry, but it was the sort of anger that one didn't yell out.

Wrex stared her in the eyes, thinking over what she said. "Y-You're right," he turned away from those feline eyes of hers. "You've made your point. I don't like this but I trust you enough to follow your lead. Just one thing; when we find Saren, I want his head,"

"Thank you, Wrex," Shepard said.

OOOOO

Kirahe's plan was to split his group into three squads that would attack the front of the fortress. To further add to his plan, Ash was sent with them for assistance. While Kadian had the job of looking after the bomb that was going to be placed inside the compound. Being a Sentinel with technical training so it made sense to have him set the bomb up. Liara stayed on the Normandy to help out as backup support. Tali was also on the Normandy to help with the bomb.

This left Zenna with Garrus and Wrex to infiltrate and deactivate the AA towers to allow the Normandy to fly in and drop the bomb off. Despite the odds, the attack was going exactly as planned. The majority of the Geth were fighting the Salarian group while Shepard's team moved in through the back. Along the way to the facility, they sabotaged the Geth to make things easier for the Salarian group. As the infiltration team moved though the facility, they eventually arrived at an office where an Asari was cowering.

"Please don't shoot!" she begged. "Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late,"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Shepard assured her lowing her assault rifle. "Who are you?"

"Rana Thanoptis," she answered. "Neurospecialist. But this job isn't worth dying over. Or worse. You think the Indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later, he will want to dissect my brain, too!"

"Wait, I thought this facility was for breeding Saren's Krogan and Minotaur army," Garrus said.

"Not this level. We're studying Sovereign's effect on organic minds. At least, that's what I assumed. Saren kept us in the dark as much as possible," the asari responded

"You helped him and you don't even know why?" Wrex exclaimed.

"I didn't have the option of negotiating," she defended herself. "This position is a little more... permanent than I expected. But I can help you. This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in," Rana walked over to the access panel next to the elevator and entered in a code. She walked back over to Shepard. "See? Full access. All of Saren's private files. Are we good? Can I go?"

"Yes, but I'm go to blow this place to hell and gone," Shepard replied. "If you want to make it out alive, you might want to start running. MOVE!"

Rana's eyes went wide before she burst into a full sprint out of the room.

"That was cruel, Commander," Garrus joked.

After shrugging, they went through the door which opened to a short walkway. They walked across and entered the elevator. It took a few moments for the elevator to reach the top. For Saren's private lab, it was fairly small. It was two levels, with a platform that stretches out over the second. On the second level they saw the beacon.

"Look Commander," Garrus pointed out. "It's another beacon, just like the one you mentioned about on Eden Prime,"

Shepard turned to them. "Stay here. I don't want this beacon harming either of you,"

The two nodded and Zenna walked towards the beacon. This device had a holographic display, unlike the one on Eden Prime. Based purely on guess work, Shepard reached out and touched the display and turned a couple of dials. Energy burst from the beacon and lifted her off of the ground. Both Wrex and Garrus watched in awe. Images flew through Shepard's head. But they were clearer than last time. It was also less strain. The message cut out and dropped Shepard to the ground. She struggled to get to her feet.

"You alright, Shepard?" Garrus asked as he moved up to help her to her feet.

"I'm good," she groaned and shook her head. "We should head to the AAtower..." Shepard quieted as she looked up.

The two followed where she was looking. A red hologram had appeared in front of a terminal on the second level. After looking to each other, they walked up to the second level and approached the display.

"This does not look good," Garrus muttered.

"You are not Saren," it declared in a deep, mechanical tone which sent shivers down their spines.

"Is this some kind of VI interface?" Wrex asked.

"Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding. There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign!"

"No, Sovereign isn't some Reaper ship that Saren found," Zenna said her expression darkened as she put the pieces togther. "It's an actual Reaper,"

"Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are," Sovereign declared.

"Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago," Garrus argued. "There is no way a ship could last that long!"

"Garrus, these aren't ships," Zenna muttered. "It's an AI,"

"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything,"

"There is an entire galaxy of races united and ready to face you," Shepard declared despite trying to hold back her brevardo.

"Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken,"

"Cycle? What cycle?" Garrus asked.

"The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them, the legacy of my kind," the Reaper answered

But that just made Shepard more confused by that confession. "Why would you construct the mass relays, then leave them for someone else to find?"

"Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it,"

As much as she hated to admit it, it made sense. The races that ever developed in this galaxy would rely on the relays for technology. And because of it, they've always developed in basically the same general direction as any race before it. The races never develop faster than what the Reapers could predict. The galaxy was just a farm.

"They're harvesting us!" Garrus gasped in terror. "Letting us advance to the level they need, then wiping us out."

"How many are you?" Zenna asked.

"We are legion," it answered. "The time of our arrival is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom," it said.

"Where did you come from? Who built you?" She asked trying to grasp at something, it's a machine, so it had to have been created by something, someone.

"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure," it countered.

She didn't know what kind of answer to expect, but it wasn't that.

"What do you want from us? Slaves? Resources?" Garrus asked.

"My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation. Independent, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence,"

"You're nothing but an ageing warship. And ships can be destroyed!" Shepard roared.

"Your words are as empty as your future. I am the Vanguard of your destruction. This exchange of words is over," and the hologram disappeared as she ground started to shake.

"Commander I don't know what you did but that ship, Sovereign, is on the move," Joker said.

"Right," Zenna said as she grabbed her rifle. "Let's move,"

The three approached the turret terminal. Shepard deactivated the defences. The Geth tried to ambush the three, but failed miserably as they were cut down almost immediately upon revealing themselves. They took the elevator up. Ash shouted something about charges being set over the comm. It was hard to understand with the gunfire in the background. The elevator doors opened to a passageway with the ground completely cover in inch-deep water. Three Krogan appeared behind the support structures and immediately started charging at the three.

The lead one laocked hands with Zenna while the others focused on Wrex and Garrus, who split and focused on their own targets as several geth decided to barge in. Wrex charged in to a small group taking the krogan who was targeting him with him. Garrus however hung back and picked off the geth while throwing a grenade at the krogan who was targeting him.

As two focused on their group, Zenna headbutted the lead krogan causing him to stumble back. Despite the headache she now had, she moved quickly and kicked him in the gut. But he grabbed onto her leg and pulled out a shotgun. As he pulled the trigger, she kicked it to one side sending the round into the floor. But that caused he to fall to the ground in a heap to which the Krogan smiled. He drew a knife and was about to take a slash at her, but the minotaur was faster.

As he came in, still holding onto her leg, she backhanded him causing him to let get of her and stumble out of the way. She then tackled him to the ground before getting her own pistol and firing it into his back. At such a close range, his organs and shields did little to help as she opened up a hole in his side. Krogan were though, very tough that could survive what other races couldn't. Zenna knew this, as she armed a grenade and shoved it into the hole she made.

Pulling back quickly the Krogan had just enough time to stand before his insides painted the walls.

While this was going on, Wrex used the other Krogan's body to crush the geth in his path. He then threw the Krogan to the floor before pulling out his shotgun and ending him. Smiling at his kill he then turned to the group Garrus was taking on. They had hunkered down due to the turian's sniper fire. His smile widened as he cocked his shotgun and charged in.

"I AM KROGAN!" he declared as he slammed into the geth crushing them underfoot.

But he missed one which was about to whack him over the head with its arm, but before it could its head exploded. Wrex looked over to Garrus who had a smug look on him. Wrex smiled as well. He may dislike turians, but Garrus was someone who he could respect if not call friend. An explosion took them out of their thoughts as they turned to see a pair of legs fall to the ground.

The two walked up to Zenna.

"What happened?" Garrus asked.

"Opened a hole, stuck a grenade inside him," the minotaur shrugged.

Wrex just laughed as Garrus looked at the commander his eyes wide in horror. "Remind me never to piss you off," he said.

"Charges set!" Ash yelled over the comm. "Everyone down now!"

The sound of an explosion rung throughout the area causing them to stubble a bit. Not waiting around for more to come, the three approached the blast door which opened upon their approach. They moved into a wide area and ran down a slope towards a pillar at the back wall.

"All right! Nice work!" Joker congratulated. "That's one less thing to worry about. Commander, I'm bringing us in. I'll get as close to the site I can,"

Zenna, Garrus and Wrex stood in the water as they watched the Normandy come into sight. But something began to fire at them impacting their shields. The ship could pull back now as that would be the end of the operation. The three turned to where the fire was coming from to see five minotaur's with rocket launchers firing at the Normandy. Angered by this Zenna fired a few rounds to get their attention.

"Come here you clan-less heifers!" she yelled. "Fight like a minotaur!"

The firing stopped and the five made their way down onto the level that Zenna and her team were on. All five of them were irregular minotaurs and looked the same.

"You," one said. "Your minotaur?" he asked unsure of his words.

"I'm a taura," Zenna said looking from one to the other. "You?"

"We are minotaur," he said in a child like manor. "We don't know who you are,"

"Who do you work for?" she asked.

"We work for Saren," he said. "You don't, you don't follow Saren," he raised his gun. "You die,"

He didn't get a chance to pull the trigger as Zenna moved in and snapped his neck. Wrex and Garrus then shot the other two before they could react.

"What was that about?" Garrus asked. "I thought minotaurs had strong ties to one another,"

"These weren't minotaurs," Zenna said coldly as she turned to watch the ramp of the Normandy lower.

Kadian, Liara and Tali helped to bring the bomb down and placed it in the centre of the compound.

"The bomb is in position," Kaidan said over the comm so that the Salarian team could hear. "We're all set here,"

"Commander, do you read me?" Ash asked.

"The nuke is almost ready. Get to the rendezvous, Williams," Shepard answered back.

"Negative, Commander," she said back in a stressed tone as gunfire echoed over the comm. "The Geth have us pinned down on the AA tower. We'll never make the rendezvous point in time,"

"Get them out of there, Joker!" she ordered.

"Negative!" Ash yelled. "It's too hot! Can't risk it. We'll hold them off as long as we can-" she was cut off making the commander curse under her breath.

"It's okay, Commander," Kaidan said to her. "I need a couple of minutes to set the bomb. Go get them and meet me back here."

"Ok, let's move," Zenna ordered.

Moving over to a set of blast door that led to a passageway similar to the one they used to enter the area they were just in, the three began to make their way to the other side of the compound. But as soon as they entered three Krogan and several Geth charged towards them. One of the Hopper Geth leaped towards one of the supports in the passageway. It blew apart in half before it could reach its destination.

"One shot!" Garrus yelled while lowering his sniper rifle.

"Bet you can't do that again," Shepard dared.

"Challenge accepted!" he said as he took aim while Zenna and Wrex charged in.

Garrus fired taking out one of the geth while Shepard fired her pistol. Several shots landed on one of the krogan but he shrugged it off. It didn't have much time to counter her however as she soon stood in front of him and fired her shotgun at point blank range. His organs couldn't survive most of his organs being turned into liquid. She then fired at the geth trying to get a shot at her. Her shield went down forcing her into cover. Wrex threw the krogan he was fighting into the geth before throwing a grenade. It detonated killing some but not all. The ones that still stood Garrus took out.

The squad then moved to the elevator and went up to the walkways above the passageways. As they moved a sound made them look up to see a geth dropship fly overhead.

"Reinforcements," Garrus called out. "We better hurry,"

"Look out, LT," Ash warned over the comm. "We just spotted a Geth dropship heading to your position."

"It's already here!" Alenko said. "Geth are moving in from all directions,"

"Can you hold them off?" Shepard asked.

"There's too many," he answered. "I don't think we can survive until you get here." There was a pause. "I'm activating the bomb,"

"Alenko, what are you doing?" Shepard demanded.

"I'm just making sure this bomb goes off, no matter what. It's done, Commander. Go get Williams and get the hell out of here!"

"Screw that!" Ash countered. "Zenna we can handle ourselves. Go back and get Alenko,"

"Fuck!" Shepard growled under her breath. "Ash, radio Joker, and tell him to meet us at the AA tower,"

Ash breathed a reluctant sigh of disapproval. "Yes, Commander. I..."

"It's the right choice," Kaidan reassured the two. "And you know it, Ash."

"I'm sorry, Kaidan," Shepard apologized. "I had to make a choice,"

"I understand, Commander. I don't regret a thing,"

Shepard looked to her squad. "Let's move it. If we don't save Ash, then Kaidan's sacrifice will have been in vain,"

They went through the door on the walkway to a lift wich took them to the top of the AA tower where Ash and the Salarian team were in a heated battle with a dozen Geth. Garrus took the right flank and covered them with sniper fire. Wrex let out a roar and charged forth against one of the Geth destroyers. Zenna got into cover and set up two turrets to cover the teams. Once done, she moved to Ashley's position and forced on taking out the geth units.

Ash was hit in the side of her ribs, blood leaked from her. After taking out one of the geth, Zenna pulled out a medi-gel canister and injected it into the affected area.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ash grunted as the gel began to take effect. "Just didn't check my kills," as she said that the last geth fell.

Zenna then brought Ashely's arm over her neck and brought her up to her feet Ajust Saren flew in on a hover platform. Shepard fell back towards some cover while firing back with her pistol. Garrus and Wrex took cover as soon as they could. Saren, however, threw another warp blast at them forcing them into cover. Shepard got into cover as well with Ashely as Saren jumped down from his hover platform and landed on the ground with a thud. He then fired two rounds that destroyed both Shepard's turrets forcing Zenna to pop out of cover and fire several rounds at Saren. But his barrier blocked each round so she crouched back down into cover.

"This has been an impressive diversion, Shepard," Saren congratulated. "My Geth were utterly convinced the Salarians were the real threat. Of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake,"

"Why are you doing this, Saren?" Shepard demanded as she reloaded. "Why are you working with Sovereign?"

"You've seen the vision from the beacon, Shepard. You, of all people, should understand what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped. Do not mire yourself in pointless revolt. Do not sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight, and they were utterly destroyed. Trillions of dead. But what if they had bowed before the invaders? Would the Protheans still exist? Is submission not preferable to extinction?" the turrian asked.

"Reload," Zenna whispered to Ash before calling out. "Do you honestly believe the Reapers will let us live?"

"Now you see why I never came forward with this to the Council. We organics are driven by emotion instead of logic. We will fight even when we know we cannot win. But what if we worked with the Reapers—if we make ourselves useful—think how many lives could be saved. Once I understood this, I joined Sovereign, though I was aware of the... dangers. I had hoped this facility could protect me,"

"You're afraid that Sovereign is controlling you," the taura concluded as she looked around for a good position.

"I've studied the effects of indoctrination," Saren countered. "The more control Sovereign exerts the less capable the subject becomes. That is my saving grace. Sovereign needs me to find the Conduit. My mind is still my own... for now. But the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me,"

"Sovereign has already made you his slave!" Shepard roared. "Can't you see that?"

"No! Sovereign needs me. If I find the Conduit, I've been promised a reprieve from the inevitable. This is my only hope,"

"You claim that organics rely on emotion than logic so explain this to me! In the millions of years, the Reapers have been at this, you think you're the only one to make this pact?" Shepard counted trying to keep him focused on her while Garrus and Wrex repositioned themselves. "You think you're so special that you, only you, came up with the idea to ally with the Reapers? I bet you, you're just the latest servant in a long line of servants who tried allying with the Reapers. The Reapers don't make allies! They make slaves. That's exactly what you are. Sovereign will use you until the Conduit is open and then turn you into a mindless husk!"

"Y-You're wrong! As long as we are useful, we will live! By working for Sovereign I'll guarantee that," Saren said tying to counter the points being made.

"You were a Spectre! You were sworn to defend the galaxy. Then you broke that vow to save yourself!" she could tell that the conversation was ending so she braced herself for an attack.

"I'm not doing this for myself! Don't you see? Sovereign will succeed. It is inevitable. My way is the only way any of us will survive! I'm forging an alliance between us and the Reapers. Between organics and machines. And in doing so, I will save more lives than have ever existed! But you would undo my work. You would doom our entire civilization to complete annihilation. And for that, you must die," he took aim bit two rounds impacted his shields distracting him.

Seeing her chance, Zenna charged and managed to knock Saren off of his platform. The turian growled as he got quickly to his feet. Before Shepard could react, he had her by the throat and dragged his towards the edge of the area. Saren lifted her off of the ground and held her there. Saren's grip was intense, it was clear that this wasn't his own strength.

Saren was about to strike, but the facility alarm went off grabbing Saren's attention for a split second. As he looked back, Shepard punched him in the face. Saren lost his grasp on the minotaur and flew into the wall as he got up, he found his mandible was broken along with some of his teeth. Shepard managed to grab onto the ledge and pull herself up back onto the ledge as Saren got back onto his platform and flew off.

The Normandy roared as it flew in to land. Shepard waved for her team to rush in. The cargo bay doors opened allowing the Salarian team, Ash, Garrus, Wrex and finally Shepard to get inside. Joker didn't wait for the cargo bay doors to completely close before flying away. Shepard rushed to a view port to watch the explosion take place cursing the universe for the choices she had to make.


	14. Chapter 14

The squad sat in silence not looking to each other. The death of Kadain hit them all hard especially Shepard, who had worked with the sentinel for years. But there was little that they could do now other than mourn his loss.

"I... I can't believe Kaidan didn't make it. How could we just leave him down there?" Ashley asked still trying to make sense of the loss.

"Alenko knew the risks going in, and he gave his life to save us," Zenna said in an emotionless tone.

"It should have been me, Commander," the huhound chided. "You know that!"

"This was my decision, Williams," the commander shot back. "I had to save as many people as I could. You were with the Salarian team, a bigger priority as they held intel. I don't regret my decision, but I do wish I could have saved both,"

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Liara said try change the subject. "But I have an idea. I believe that the beacon you found on Virmire was similar to the one you found on Eden Prime. It may have filled in the missing parts of your vision. I might be able to help you put all of those pieces together,"

"You want to join our minds together, don't you?" Zenna asked rhetorically as she stood. "Okay, do it,"

Liara approached her. "Relax, Commander," her hands outstretched and touched the saide of the commander's face, "Embrace eternity!"

Zenna yelled out as the images flew through her mind again. They were clearer and didn't flash through her mind as quickly. It showed the Reapers slaughtering the Protheans. Some Protheans were being turned into husks. The vision ended with a view of two suns, but the view expanded to show two more planets. It then focused on one. It quickly zoomed in on the one planet and showed Sovereign in the planet's shadows.

"Incredible," Liara said as she exited the melding. "I... I never thought the images would be so... intense. I need a moment to collect myself,"

Zenna shook her head she tried to make sense of what she saw. "Did the vision make any sense to you?" she asked trying to sake the felling that something in the images bugged her.

"It's a distress call, a message sent out across the Prothean Empire. A warning against the Reapers but the warning came too late," Liara answered as she rubbed the side of her head.

"What about the Conduit?" Zenna asked.

"There were other images. Locations. Places I recognize from my research... Ilos! The Conduit is on Ilos! That is why Saren needed to find the Mu Relay!" her eyes widened in realised what they needed to do. "It is the only way to get to Ilos,"

"The Mu Relay is inside the Terminus Systems," Tali reminded. "Alliance ships are not welcome there. Neither are Spectres,"

"The Conduit is on Ilos. The place Saren is heading. We need to get there. One way or the other," Zenna said determined to make Saren pay.

"Saren will have his entire fleet orbiting Ilos," Liara argued. "You will never make it down to the surface without reinforcements. You must alert the Council. We need a fleet to- ahh..." Liara shuddered at the headache. "I am sorry. The joining is... exhausting. I should go to the medical bay and lie down for a moment,"

"Do so, we're done here. Everyone dismissed and get some rest. We're going to need every bit of energy we have," everyone started to leave the comm room as Joker came one.

"Commander, there's a comm buoy nearby. I can link us in if you want to report back to the Citadel Council. You know, to warn them about Sovereign," he said.

"Set it up, Joker. I'm not in the mood, but they have to know," Zenna said as she cracked her neck.

"Patching it through," Joker said as the holograms of the three Councillors appeared before the commander.

"Commander Shepard," Tevos greeted. "I'm pleased to see the mission was a success,"

"Saren is formidable enough without an army of Krogan serving under him." Velarn added. "But I'm also interested in this demi-human cure. How did that turn out?"

"Destroyed," the commander said flatly making it clear she wasn't interested in discussing it. "But they would have served Sovereign, a Reaper," Shepard corrected.

"Yes, we saw mentioned of this on your Report," the Salarian Councilor said. "Sovereign. A sentient machine. A true artificial intelligence. This news is quite alarming... if it turns out to be accurate,"

"Sovereign's a Reaper," Shepard assured them. "Saren admitted it. I even talked to it,"

"He's playing you, Shepard!" Sparatus argued. "Saren still has contacts on the Citadel. He probably saw your earlier reports. The ones talking about your vision. And the Reapers,"

"It's highly possible Saren is using false information to throw you off balance," the Salarian agreed. "Our own intelligence has never turned up any corroborating information,"

"Your own intelligence turned up nothing before, during Saren's investigation and look where that got you," Shepard said criticizingly. "Just because there is no evidence doesn't necessarily mean that something does not exist. Look at the police forces of earth and C-sec. Most of the time they have nothing but eye witnesses to go on. How is this any different?"

"Now wait just a-" the turian councilor tried to get in before being cut off.

"Please see things from our perspective, Commander," Tevos tried to diffuse the situation. "Saren is a threat we can recognize. However, as far as we know, the Reapers only exist in your visions."

Velarn didn't speak further, but looked extremely angry at Shepard.

"Our decisions affect trillions of lives," the Salarian added. "We cannot act on the accusations of single person. Even a Spectre. Not without solid evidence. The Council cannot take official action here. That is why we created the Spectres. You have the authority to act as you see fit. But if you truly believe Sovereign is the real threat, you must take whatever steps are necessary to stop it. And Saren."

"Good luck, Commander. From all of us," Tevos said before the holograms vanished and Shepard swore.

"Goddamn morons," she muttered as she walked into the CIC and made her way towards the galaxy map.

Joker called in over the ship's comm system. "I forwarded the mission update to the Citadel, Commander. We've got confirmation on those reinforcements. Ambassador Udina wants us to report back to the Citadel. The Council is massing a joint-species fleet to deal with Saren and his Geth,"

But despite that she got what she wanted something felt off to the commander. "Take us back then,"

"Yes, sir!"

OOOOO

Shepard and her team approached the platform in the Council Chamber. Udina was next to him.

"Good job, Shepard," Udina congratulated. "Thanks to you, the Council's finally taking real action against Saren!"

Zenna looked at him with an inquisitive eye, he was hiding something and she could smell it.

"The ambassador is correct," Tevos commented. "If Saren is foolish enough to attack the Citadel—as you believe—we will be ready for him,"

"Patrols are stationed at every mass relay linking Citadel space to the Terminus Systems," Udina added smugly.

"You can't honestly believe a blockade's going to stop him?" Shepard said. "He's on Ilos looking for the Conduit right now! What are you doing about that? For all we know it could be a weapon that could destroy the blockade,"

"Ilos is only accessible through the Mu Relay, deep in the Terminus System, Commander. If we send a fleet in there, the only possible outcome is full-scale war," Sparatus countered.

"Now is the time for discretion, Commander," Udina cautioned. "Saren's greatest weapon was secrecy. Exposed, he is no longer a threat. This is over,"

"One ship going into the Terminus Systems won't start a war. Especially a stealth ship," Shepard argued. "I can be discreet,"

"You detonated a nuclear device on Virmire!" Velarn countered. "I wouldn't call that discreet,"

"Really? Then what should I have done? Let the Korgan take Citadel?" she asked her tone turning sarcastic.

"Your style served you well in the Traverse, Commander," Tevos said. "We recognize that. But Ilos requires a deft touch. We have the situation under control,"

"No, you don't!" Shepard yelled. "If Saren finds the Conduit, we're all screwed! We have to go to Ilos! What will happen when he gets to it? What happens if it's a weapon you cannot take out? What if it's the largest space ship we've ever seen? Have you even thought about what it is? What it could to any of us? You don't have control you are operating under the delusion you are,"

Velarn sighed. "Ambassador Udina, I get the sense Commander Shepard isn't willing to let this go,"

"There are serious political implications here, Shepard. Humanity's made great gains thanks to you. But now you're becoming more trouble than you're worth," he said making both the commander and Ash growl

"You bastard!" Willams roared. "You're selling us out!"

"It's just politics, Commander. You've done your job, now let me do mine. We've locked out all of the Normandy's primary systems. Until further notice, you're grounded,"

"No one stabs me in the back and gets away with it, Udina!" Shepard warned

"I think it's time for you and your team to leave, Commander. This is no longer concerns you. The Council can handle this. With my help of course. You best go before you do something stupid, Commander," he sneered.

Shepard said nothing and looked from the council to Udnia and back again. "Has anyone resigned from the Spectres before?" she asked.

The councillors looked surprised and to one another. "No…" Tevos was about to continue before Shepard interrupted her.

"Then I resign from the Spectres. Effective immediately," she announced shocking both Udina and the council as well as the on lookers.

"You what?" Udina asked. "Shepard do you know what you just did?"

Zenna ignored him and turned. "But if you truly believe something is the real threat, you must take whatever steps are necessary to stop it," she said before walking off.

OOOOO

Stress wasn't something Zenna could deal with well. If anything, it made her more pissed off then normal. Sitting at her workbench, she placed a few parts to one side. Parts of her assault rifle lay to the side as she tinkered with the inner mechanism. She wanted to increase the size of the rounds that the rifle fired to get more damage out of it. The rate of fire would have to be sacrificed, but she saw it as a fair trade. But her own tiredness was catching up with her. All of the stress, all of the exhaustion she had felt over the past few weeks was finally catching up to her.

At last she just moved some of the parts out of the way and rested her head in her hands. "Fuck it all," she muttered.

"I can't believe they still won't believe after everything you've done," Liara said as she walked in with Ashley.

"Makes me wonder," Ash added. "Who's the bigger fool? Them or us for believing that they'd take their heads out of their asses,"

"Probably me," Zenna admitted.

"Not you, Zenna. You did everything right and more. Nobody... Absolutely nobody could have done what you've did!" Liara defended.

"This stupid Council owes you for everything and more! Instead, they strip you of your command and ground the Normandy. Maybe we can get an appeal by letting the Reapers come," Ash said.

"By the time they would even consider letting me go, it would be too late," Zenna laughed a bit but there was no humour behind it.

"Y-You just can't give up, John! This galaxy is depending on you," Ash said before Liara could say it.

Shepard gave a weak smile. "Have I ever come across as a quitter?"

Ash and Liara smiled at her. "No, you haven't but I assume you have a plan?" the hu hound said

Her smile grew. "Something of one," as she pulled herself up, she nearly tripped and the two got a hold of her.

But their hands made the minotaur blush while Ash and Liara looked at each other with conflicting looks. Ashley had a small smile, but Liara had a bit of a disapproving look on her.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," Joker said over the ship's PA. "Got a message from Captain Anderson,"

They sighed in disappointment and relief.

"What did he want?" Zenna asked.

"Only to meet him in the wards, at Flux,"

"I'm on my way," the minotaur said as she pulled away from the two. "You guys better get ready," she said before leaving.

"What was that all about?" Ashley asked looking to the asari.

"I like Zenna," Liara said looking with disapproval at the human in front of her.

"Oh, I see where this is going," Ash smiled. "Human's don't always have monogamous relations. Especially with demi-humans, in fact minotaur's are known to have multiple partners of both sexes," Liara eyes widened at that.

"But I thought…" she blustered and went red.

"Humans only preferred to have one partner? Regular humans yes but demi-humans not so much. It's part of our animal instincts to procreate with as many as possible. Granted it's not with all demi-humans, but it is with most," she leaned in to Liara's ear. "And I don't mind sharing," she said before leaving the red faced asari alone.

OOOOO

Flux was one of the more popular clubs on the citadel. Music blared and the smell of alcohol met Zenna's nose as she walked in. Neon lights glowed as people drank and others danced. The smells and sounds bombarded the minotaur as she looked around for Anderson. He waved to her getting her attention, she waved back and walked up to his table before sitting down.

"I'm glad you're here Shepard, I heard what happened," he said his voice trying to hide his anger.

"They pulled me off of the mission, just like when they pulled you off of the Normandy," Zenna gritted her teeth.

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to warn you, but there was no way to get a message to you before you arrived. I know you're pissed off right now, but you can't give up. They all think this is over, but we both know it's not. You have to go to Ilos. You have to stop Saren from using the Conduit!"

"Easier said than done when I have no ship,"

"I have a plan for that," he said as he leaned in. "Udina ordered the lockdown himself. If I can get access to his terminal, I can release the lockdown,"

Zenna, for once, smiled. "I like it, 15 minutes?" Anderson nodded. "Good, give him one that he feels in the morning,"

Asnderson smiled and nodded as they got up and left

OOOOO

Udina was typing away at his computer when Anderson walked in. He tried to ask what the captain was doing but didn't get a chance as a fist made contact with his face knocking him out.

"That, was for the shit you put me though," he said before accessing the terminal.

Once he was done, he was about to leave before two minotaur's walked in. He stopped and looked at them before they gave a jerk of the head and he followed.

OOOOO

Shepard stood by Joker watching the ship's controls. The controls were red, but after a moment it turned green. "Get this ship out of here Joker!" Zenna quickly ordered.

"Aye, aye!" Joker said moving his hands over the controls and sped the ship towards the system's relay. Electricity went around the ship and then suddenly they were sent forward into the next system. Joker looked at the LADAR. "Aw, damn it. No signs of pursuit? I was hoping the Council would send some ships after us. I was looking forward to putting the Normandy through its paces. Figured I'd get to see what this ship can really do,"

"Saren's still out there. Maybe we'll get a chance to play hide-and-seek with Sovereign," Shpeard quipped.

"You know it doesn't seem like much fun when you say it, Commander. So, you need something?"

"How long until we reach the Mu Relay?" she asked

"ETA two hours," Joker said as he did the calculations.

"Call me when we get close,"


End file.
